LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 
Presented  by 


.£.5.1375 


Division.. 
Section..A.D.li?  O 


A  Book  for  every  Bible  Student. 

The  only  Treatise  of  the  kind  in  the  English  Language. 


AN    EXAMINATION 

OF    THE    ALLEGED 

DISCREPANCIES    OF  THE   BIBLE. 

BY    JOHN    W.    HALEY,    M.A. 

With  an  Introduction  by  Alvah  Hovey,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Newton 
Theological  Institution.     Crown  8vo.     pp.  xii  and  473.     Price,  $1.25. 


Emphatically  a  Commentary  on  the  hard  places  of  Scripture. 
The  book  consists  of  two  parts :   Part  I.,  about  fifty  pages,  contains  Dis- 
Bertations  on  the  Origin,  Design,  and  Results  of  the  Discrepancies.     Part  II., 
is  given  to  the  Explanation  and  Harmony  of  the  Discrepancies,  under  the 
following  heads. 
I.   Doctrinal  Discrepancies,  concerning  God,  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Scriptures,  Man  in  relation  to  the  Present,  Man  in  relation  to  the 
Future. 
n.   Ethical  Discrepancies,  on  the  Duty  of  Man  to  God,  of  Man  to 

himself,  of  Man  to  his  fellow -men. 
in.  Historical  Discrepancies,  pertainmg  to  Persons;  to  Places;   to 
Numbers ;  to  Time ;  Miscellaneous. 
Three  Indexes  afford  easy  reference  to  topics  and  passages  of  Sciipture. 
The  First  Edition  of  this  book  was  exhausted  in  a  few  weeks.    A  Second 
Revised  Edition  is  now  ready. 

"  I  have  examined  a  part  of  the  manuscript  copy  of  the  Rev.  J.  "W.  Haley's 
work  on  the  Apparent  Contradictions  of  the  Bjble  and  the  reconciliation  of  them. 
The  work  is  the  fruit  of  len<;thened  and  laborious  research.  It  will  be  of  preat 
use  to  every  minister  who  will  study  it.  Every  minister  ought  to  be  familiar  with 
the  principles  stated  in  the  work.  I  do  not  know  any  volume  which  gives  to  the 
English  reader  such  a  compressed  amount  of  suggestion  and  instruction  on  this 
theme  as  is  given  in  this  volume.  So  far  as  I  have  examined  it,  I  discover  no  trace 
of  a  sectarian  spirit  in  the  manuscript."  —  Prof.  Edwards  A.  Park. 

"  An  excellent  discussion  of  the  sulycct."  —  Christian  Observer. 

"  Sound  learning,  good  common  sense,  exact  statement,  brevity,  perspicuity,  to  a 
remarkable  degree  characterize  the  work  from  beginning  to  end.'  — Neio  Covenant. 

"  To  tliosc  called'  to  exjjlain  the  scriptures  it  will  be  found  helpful,  as  its  solu- 
tions of  (iitticulties  are  sensible  and  sound."  —  Presbi/terian  at  Work. 

"  "We  earnestly  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  all  who  desire  for  themselves, 
or  for  the  benefit  of  others,  a  more  thorough,  consistent,  and  assuring  knowledge 
of  the  Bil)le." —  The  Episcopalian. 

"  Mr.  Haley  has  done  Bible  readers  excellent  service  by  the  publication  of  this 
volume." —  Christian  Union. 

"  Moreover,  the  book  becomes  to  the  most  of  ministers  and  other  readers,  as  a 
whole  library  in  its  references,  quotations,  and  original  discussion  of  the  numerous 
texts  that  sceptics  have  declared  mutually  contradictory." — Uerald  of  Gospel  Liberty. 

"A  volume  which  will  be  found  extremely  convenient." —  Watchman  and  lieflector 
A-13 


SUPPLICIUM   /ETERNUM." 


THB  HEREAFTER  OF  SIN: 

WHAT    IT    WILL    BE; 

WITH 

ANSWEES  TO  OERTAIN  QUESTIONS  AND  OBJEOTIOIfS. 
By  REY.  JOHN  W.   HALEY, 

Author  of  "  Alleged  Discrepancies  of  the  Bible." 

Price  To  oents. 

This  work  presents  the  penal  aspects  of  sin.  Part  first  discusses  Fatnra 
Betribation:  Demand  for  it,  and  Nature  of  it.  Certain  elements 
which  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  will  enter  into  and  constitute  the  punish- 
ment of  sin  in  the  world  to  come  are  considered. 

L  The  ever  present  knowledge  of  the  lost  that  the  blame  is  all  their  own. 
n.  A  deep  and  abiding  sense  of  shame  and  degradation. 
in.  Remorse  of  conscience. 

IV.  The  withdrawment  of  good  and  saving  influences. 
V.  The  self-perpetuating  tendency  of  moral  character. 
VI.  The  hopelessness  of  their  condition. 

VII.  The  raging  of  unholy  and  unsatisfied  passions  and  desires. 
VIII.  The  society  in  which  the  sinner  is  placed. 

IX.  An  unfailing  sense  of  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty. 
Part  second  considers  Questions  and  Objections.  Eighteen  of  these 
questions,  embracing  some  of  a  popular  and  some  of  a  more  scholastic 
and  philosophical  nature,  are  discussed.  Each  part  contains  numerous 
references  to  the  hterature  of  the  subject.  The  book  is  intended  to  relieve 
the  minds  of  that  large  class  of  persons  who  recognize  the  fact  that  the 
doctrine  of  endless  suffering  is  taught  in  the  word  of  God,  yet  who  find  it 
difficult  or  impossible  to  reconcile  that  doctrine  with  their  own  ideas  and 
feelings. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  over-estimate  the  enormous  peril  to  which  every  one 
is  exposed  who  is  not  warned  and  fortified  a<?ainst  the  specious  arguments  of  scep- 
ticism and  unbelief  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  future  jjunishment.  This  little 
book  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Haley  aims  to  furnish  such  warning  and  such  scriptural  and 
philosophical  fortification."  —  Lutheran  Church  Review,  J ixn.  1882. 

"An  able  book,  containing  a  clear  and  dispassionate  discussion  of  a  moinentoas 
subject.     It  stands  unique  in  a  field  of  its  own." —  Indi'pendent,  Aug.  25,  1881. 

"  Mr.  Haley  has  set  forth  the  teaching  of  God's  Word  in  a  very  clear  light,  and 
shows  how  it  harmonizes  with  the  conclusions  of  experience,  science,  and  philoso- 
phy."— The  National  Baptist,  Sept.  1,  1881. 

"One  is  compelled,  in  reading  it,  to  feel  that  its  scriptural  argument  for  the 
eternity  of  punishment  is  unanswerable,  and  that  this  doctrine  is  in  some  form  to 
be  accepted  while  the  Scriptures  are  the  sole  rule  of  faith  "  —  Christian  Advocate, 
Jan.  12,  1882. 

"A  clear,  calm,  accurate  presentation  of  the  subject If  we  mistake  T!Wt>« 

h'xW  prove  to  be  one  of  the  most  acceptable  and  valuable  treatises  on  tljp  sti'njiBtt 
♦liat  we  have."  —  Golden  Rule.  A-14 


VOM-M^^^^- 


THE 

BOOK    OF    ESTHER, 


A    ITEAV   TRAl^SLATIOTT; 


CRITICAL  NOTES,  EXCURSUSES,  MAPS  AND  PLANS, 
AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


BY 

THE  LOWELL  HEBREW  CLUB. 


EDITED  BY 

REV.   JOHN   W.^IALEY,  M.A., 

a'THOE  OF   "ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  THE  BIBLE,"  AND  OF 
"THE  HEREAFTER  OF  SIN." 


WARREN   F.  DRAPER. 

1885. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1885,  by 

WARREN    F.    DRAPER, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  6f  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE 


It  falls  to  me  as  a  kind  of  right  to  pen  this  preface.  The 
Hebrew  Club,  whose  work  appears  in  this  volume,  first  met  in 
my  study,  and  began  its  work  somewhat  at  my  suggestion. 
What  is  said  as  to  the  personnel  of  the  Club  may  satisfy  the 
curiosity  of  the  reader,  as  well  as  encourage  other  ministers 
similarly  situated  to  combine  for  the  more  thorough  study  of 
the  Book  of  books. 

Nine  years  ago  we  began  to  meet  once  a  week  to  read  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  in  their  original  tongue.  There  is 
something  about  this  grand  old  language  which  attracts  the 
lover  of  sacred  things,  a  heavenly  rhythm  which  fills  and 
inspires  his  soul,  and  enables  him  to  say,  "  I  love  thy  law." 
There  is  a  divine  sweetness  in  the  very  words  in  which  that 
law  was  written.  After  two  years  of  such  pleasurable  work 
we  commenced  to  publish  in  one  of  our  city  newspapers  the 
results  of  our  study,  in  the  shape  of  a  weekly  exposition  of  the 
International  Series  of  Sunday-school  Lessons.  These  exposi- 
tions, furnished  by  members  of  the  Club  in  turn,  continued 
two  and  one  half  years,  being  generally  read  in  this  city,  and 
extensively  copied  into  the  newspapers  of  other  cities. 

Five  years  ago,  having  formed  the  plan  of  concentrating  our 

work  upon  the  Book  of  Esther,  we  discontinued  as  a  Club  the 

1 


2  PREFACE. 

exposition  of  the  Sunday-school  lesson.  But  a  taste  in  the 
community  had  been  created  for  it,  so  that  two  of  our  weekly 
newspapers  from  that  time  began  to  give  scholarly  and  inter- 
esting elucidations  of  the  lessons,  —  one  by  a  member  of  this 
Club  (Rev.  John  W.  Haley),  the  other  by  a  clergyman  of  the 
city,  not  connected  with  the  Club.  With  regard  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Club,  it  should  be  said  that  four  parish  ministers 
have  done  the  work.  Professor  G.  Frederick  Yv^'right  and  Dr. 
Selah  Merrill  met  with  us  a  few  times.  The  former  qontributed 
some  valuable  matter  which  will  appear  in  the  volume  of  Dis- 
courses on  the  Book  of  Esther,  soon  to  be  published  ;  the  latter 
furnished  some  matter  which  will  be  found  in  Excursus  D  (p. 
122)  in  this  volume.  We  have  received  suggestions  on  diffi- 
cult points  from  some  of  tlie  best  Hebrew  scholars  in  Great 
Britain  and  Germany,  as  well  as  in  our  own  country.  Among 
them  are  Dr.  James  G.  Murphy,  of  Belfast,  Ireland  ;  Professor 
Geo.  C.  M.  Douglas,  D.D.,  of  Glasgow,  Scotland  ;  Dr.  James 
Strong,  of  Madison,  N.J.  ;  Professor  Willis  J.  Beecher,  of  Au- 
burn, N.Y. ;  Professor  A.  Meyrowitz,  New  York  City;  Rev. 
Wm.  H.  Cobb,  Uxbridge,  Mass. ;  Rev.  T.  W.  Chambers,  D.D., 
New  York  City  ;  Rev.  E.  S.  Dwiglit,  D.D.,  Hadley,  Mass. 

It  is  our  purpose,  if  the  Lord  spares  our  lives  and  gives  us 
tlie  needed  strength,  to  do  for  the  two  books  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  what  we  have  done  for  the  Book  of  Esther.  We 
liave  the  work  under  way  for  the  former  named  book. 

The  text  as  it  appears  in  this  volume  is  in  no  sense  the 
revision  of  another  translation,  but  a  rendering  of  the  Hebrew 
de  novo.  We  are  joint  authors  of  the  translation.  As  to  the 
other  material,  Rev.  Owen  Street.  D.D.,  contributed  the  Intro- 


PREFACE.  3 

ductioii,  tlie  notes  on  cliai)ter.s  v.,  vi.,  and  vii.,  and  Excursuses 
A.  E,  F.  He  has  been  for  twenty-seven  consecutive  years  tlio 
successful  pastor  of  a  large  and  influential  church  in  this 
busy  city,  and  has  been  a  centre  of  light  and  intelligence 
here.  He  has  contributed  not  a  few  articles  to  the  press 
of  the  day. 

Rev.  John  W.  Haley,  M.A.,  recently  the  pastor  of  a  Con- 
gregational church  in  this  vicinity,  and  now  a  resident  of 
Amherst,  Mass.,  for  some  time  a  Professor  in  one  of  our 
Western  Colleges,  is  the  author  of  two  well-known  books,  — 
*'  Alleged  Discrepancies  of  the  Bible,"  and  "  Supplicium 
Aeternum,  or  the  Hereafter  of  Sin."  He  was  made  the  editor 
of  this  volume  because  of  his  known  ability  in  such  work. 
He  contributed  the  notes  on  chapters  iii.  and  iv.,  Excursuses 
G,  H,  I,  J,  K,  and  the  Indexes. 

Rev.  William  P.  Alcott  contributed  the  notes  on  chapters 
i.  and  ii.,  and  Excursuses  B,  C,  D,  P.  He  has  been  for  many 
years  a  Congregational  pastor,  and  has  been  accustomed  to 
make  scientific  studies  his  relaxation.  During  the  year  1877 
he  was  the  travelling  companion  of  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  in  his  tour 
through  Egypt,  the  Sinaitic  region,  Palestine-,  and  Southern 
Europe.  He  has  contributed  many  articles  to  the  press,  and 
edited  the  Natural  History  department  of  Schaff's  Bible 
Dictionary. 

The  wi'iter  of  this  preface  has  been  for  fourteen  years  the 
pastor  of  a  Congregational  church  in  this  city.  His  contri- 
butions to  this  volume  are  the  notes  on  chapters  viii.,  ix.,  and 
X.,  and  Excursuses  L,  M,  N,  0. 

We  have  found  great  pleasure  and  profit  in  our  work.     All 


4  PREFACE. 

careful  study  of  the  word  of  God  fits  one  better  to  be  a  herald 
of  the  gospel  of  eternal  life.  We  have  discovered  rich 
treasures  in  this  too  much  neglected  portion  of  the  sacred 
word. 

That  the  Lord  may  own  and  bless  our  labors  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  church,  to  a  truer  understanding  of  the  oracles  of 
God,  to  the  honor  of  his  name,  and  to  the  saving  of  souls,  is 
the  fervent  prayer  of  myself  and  all  my  associates  in  this 
work. 

JOHN  M.  GREENE. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  November  1884. 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE 

Introduction, ,  7-27 

Translation  and  Notes, 29-91 

Excursuses, 92-18C 

A.  Persian  Words  and  Names, 92-94 

B.  Topography  and  Buildings,     .        .        .        .        .        .  95-109 

C.  Pavement  and  Components, 110-116 

D.  Letters  and  Posts  of  the  Ancients,         ....  117-122 

E.  Early  Modes  of  Execution, 122-130 

F.  The  Jews  in  Exile, 130-139 

G.  Signet  Rings  and  Seals, 140-146 

H.     The  Massacre,          .        . 146-149 

I.      Fasting, .  149-151 

J.     Tlie  Golden  Sceptre, .151-153 

K.     Fate  of  Royal  Favorites,        .        .        .        . '      .        .  153-154 

L.     Couriers, 155 

M.     Coursers, 156 

N.     Tribute, 156-160 

O.     The  Unwritten  Name, 161-1 C 9 

P.     The  Scptuagint  Esther, 170-186 

Hebrew  Index, 187,  188 

English  Index 189-194 

5 


g  .  CONTENTS. 

MAPS    AND    PLANS. 

1.  Plan  of  Persepolis  (with  explanations),        .        .        .         at  the  end. 

2.  Modern  Susiana, " 

3.  Plan  of  Jlounds  of  Susa, " 

4.  Persian  Empire  —  Ancient, " 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PASS 


Tomb  of  the  Prophet  Daniel, to  face  title. 

The  Golden  Sceptre, 60 

Diagram  to  illustrate  the  King's  Gate  and  the  Courts,       .        .  107 

Modes  of  Execution  —  Impalement, 127 

Signet-Rings  and  Seals, 142 


INTRODUCTION. 


I    THE  BOOK  OP  ESTHEE,-ITS  CLAIM  TO  A  PLAGE  AMONG 
THE  SAOEED  WETTINGS. 

This  book  comes  to  us  with  an  external  record  that  is  above 
suspicion.  We  receive  it  from  tliose  most  vigilant  and  scrupu- 
lous guardians  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  the  Jewish  people ; 
and  with  the  most  assuring  commendation  on  their  part.  Their 
learned  rabbis  are  united  in  giving  it  not  only  a  place,  but  a 
very  high  place,  among  their  sacred  writings,  —  so  high  that 
they  included  it  among  those  scriptures  that  they  distinguished 
as  the  Hag-iographa  (the  emphatically  sacred  books).  And, 
even  among  these,  they  assigned  it  the  first  rank,  reckoning  it 
with  those  which  they  call  by  way  of  special  empliasis  rrbs-a 
(Meg-illoth).^  It  is  sometimes  called  by  a  kind  of  supreme 
emphasis  i^^^an  {ha-MegillaJi)^  the"  book  of  books."  It  may 
be  added  as  a  further  illustration  of  the  high  repute  in  which  it 
was  held  by  the  Jews,  that  it  was  d.saying  of  Maimonides,  that 
"  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah,  the  prophetic  and  hagiographical 
books  will  pass  away,  except  the  book  of  Esther,  which  will 
remain,  with  the  Pentateuch." 

This  book  is  read  through  by  the  Jews  every  year  in  their 
feast  of  Purim  in  the  synagogues,  and  is  indeed  necessarily 
associated  with  that  observance.  Tlie  one  is  to  the  other  what 
the  Book  of  Exodus  is  to  the  Passover.  It  is  more.  For  we 
could  make  out  from  the  Book  of  Psalms,  and  other  scriptures, 
on  what  basis  of  fact  the  Passover  rests ;  but  there  is  no  other 
scripture,  if  the  Book  of  Esther  be  supposed  to  be  stricken  out, 
from  which  we  could  explain  the  observance  of  Purim. 

1  As  we  should  give  it  in  modern  phrase,  "  books  that  are  books." 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

The  proof  of  the  unquestioned  and  high  standing  of  this  book 
in  the  Jewish  canon  of  Scriptures  is  complete.  It  is  so  recog- 
nized by  the  Jewish  writers  from  Josephus  down  to  our  own 
times.  This  consideration  is  all  the  more  weighty  from  the 
fact  that  the  Jewish  scribes  have  kept  the  Hebrew  text  wholly 
unadulterated  by  admixtures  from  the  extensive  additions  that 
have  been  prefixed,  suffixed,  and  interpolated  by  the  writers  of 
the  Septuagint.  "  Unto  them  [the  Hebrew  people]  were  com- 
mitted the  oracles  of  God."  ^  No  one  contends  that  the  Book  of 
Esther  was  missing  from  that  canon  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures 
to  which  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  continually  made  their  ap- 
peal. This  fact  vindicates  for  it  a  place  in  the  word  of  God  as 
held  and  published  to  the  world  by  the  early  followers  of  Clirist. 

The  internal  evidence  is  equally  satisfactory.  Like  the 
other  books  of  the  Hebrew  canon,  it  deals  with  the  fortunes  of 
the  Jewish  people,  and  is  fully  in  keeping  with  their  well- 
known  characteristics.  Mordecai  and  Esther  were  Jews  of 
the  clearest  and  most  unquestionable  type.  The  providence 
of  God,  in  the  deliverance  of  his  people,  stands  out  in  this 
book  in  as  distinct  outline  as  in  their  rescue  from  the  Egyp- 
tian bondage  or  from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  The  record 
is  everywhere  true,  moreover,  to  the  Medo-Persian  dynasty 
and  character.  It  shows  us  just  what  the  profane  histories 
show  us,  only  with  greater  minuteness  and  fidelity. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  have  found  no  occasion  to  enter 
upon  the  discussion  of  the  question  whether  the  book  may  not 
be  poetic,  or  poetico-didactic,  and  hence  fitted  to  be  ranked  as 
an  allegory,  or  a  parable  to  illustrate  some  important  truth  in 
morals  or  in  providence.  The  absence  of  rhythm  and  parallel- 
ism, and  the  whole  tone  and  manner  of  the  book,  as  well  as  the 
strong  testimony  to  its  historic  character,  forbid  that  we  should 
seriously  consider  such  an  hypothesis.  We  can  only  wonder 
that  the  hypothesis  has  been  saved  from  the  unnoticed  deatli 
that  befits  a  monstrosity  in  sacred  criticism,  by  its  association 
with  such  names  as  Semler,  Oeder,  Corrodi,  Hitzig,  and  Zunz. 

To  us,  the  book  is  a  veritable  history.  The  glimpses  which 
it  gives  us  of  the  arbitrary  character  of  the  despotism  under 
^  Bom.  iii.  2. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

which  Mordecai  and  Esther  lived  ;  tlic  extent  of  the  royal 
harem  ;  the  nature  of  the  recorded  festivities  ;  the  approaches, 
the  architecture,  and  the  furnishing  of  the  palace ;  and  the 
sudden  elevation  and  downfall  of  those  in  high  position,  are 
historic  verities.  Its  Orientalisms  arc  all  true  to  ancient  his- 
tory ;  and  its  record  of  Xerxes  corresponds  exactly  with  all 
that  we  know  from  other  souz'ces  as  to  his  character. 

The  promotion  of  Esther  and  Mordecai  from  a  nation  of 
captives  is  closely  parallel  to  that  of  Joseph  in  Egypt,  and  that 
of  Daniel  and  his  companions  in  Babylon.  The  practical 
teaching  of  the  book,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
Scriptures  generally :  it  is  that  of  dependence  on  God  for  deliv- 
erance from  destruction  ;  his  care  and  timely  interposition  for 
his  people  ;  and  the  certain  downfall  of  the  wicked.  The  com- 
mon objections  that  there  is  no  suggestion  of  jjrayer  in  the 
book,  and  that  the  name  of  God  does  not  occur  in  it,  are  fully 
answered  in  the  Excursus  on  Tiie  Unwritten  Xame.^ 

II.    OHRONOLOGIOAL   DATA   DEEIVED    FROM   EXISTING 
MONUMENTS  AND  PROFANE  HISTOEY. 

The  date  of  the  leading  events  of  the  narrative,  or  the  pre- 
cise period  covered  by  it,  has  not  been  declared  by  any  author 
of  ancient  times.  Scholars  have  had  before  them  in  the  book 
of  Esther  very  much  such  a  study  as  if  the  statements  it  contains 
had  been  dug  up  from  the  same  ehambers  as  the  records  that 
have  been  pul)lishcd  of  the  military  exploits  of  Sennacherib  or 
of  Nebuchadnezzar ;  or  found  chiselled  on  some  rocky  tablet 
similar  to  that  of  Behistun  or  the  famous  Moabite  stone.  The 
questions  at  once  arise.  Where  did  these  events  come  in  ? 
What  fixed  points  in  history  did  they  precede  or  follow  ?  Does 
history  know  anything  of  this  monarch,  or  the  characters  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  this  l)Ook  ?  These  were  hard  j)oints  for  even 
such  giants  of  historical  learning  as  Archbishop  Usher,  Dean 
Prideaux,  and  Joscpli  Scaliger.  After  all  their  sturdy  wrest- 
ling witii  the  j)roblem  they  came  each  to  a  different  result. 
Usher  concluded  that  Ahasuerus  could  be  no  other  than  Darius 

'  See  Appendix,  Excursus  O. 
2 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

Hystaspis ;  Prideaux  fixed  upon  Artaxerxes  Longimanus  ;  while 
Scaliger  decided  that  he  must  have  been  identical  with  Xerxes. 

We  should  have  had  nmch  the  same  battle  to  fight  with  in- 
conclusive data,  but  for  the  aid  derived  within  the  present 
century  from  the  happily  achieved  mastery  of  the  cuneiform 
alphabet  of  the  ancient  Persians,  It  has  now  been  satisfac- 
torily shown  that  the  cuneiform  orthography  of  the  name 
which  the  Greeks  shortened  into  Xerxes  answers  to  the  Hebrew 
name  Achashverosh  as  found  in  the  Book  of  Esther. 

As  we  wis^i  to  present  the  proof  of  this  to  the  eye  we  insert, 
in  oui'  first  Excursus,^  a  carefully  prepared  schedule,  differing 
but  little  from  that  given  by  Canon  Rawlinson,  in  which  those 
letters  of  the  ancient  Persian  and  Hebrew  alphabets  which  are 
found  to  be  equivalents,  or  nearly  such,  are  placed  side  by 
side.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  Persian  had  nothing  answering 
to  the  Hebrew  Lamedh,  Tsad/ie,  A//in,  or  Qoph.  But  the  Per- 
sians had,  on  the  other  hand,  a  number  of  letters  for  which  the 
Hebrews  had  no  equivalent ;  their  alphabet  amounting  to  forty 
letters.  We  give  in  the  fpurth  column  of  our  schedule,  in 
English,  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Persian,  the  three  names  that 
must  be  considered  in  our  present  discussion.  Such  a  com- 
parison as  any  one  can  make  in  a  few  moments  will  show  that 
the  argument  from  the  names  is  conclusive  for  Xerxes. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  second  name  (Khshyarsha)  the 
combination  Khsh  represents  only  two  letters ;  the  potent  ele- 
ment of  the  first  being  k  and  of  the  second  a-,  making  the 
combination  simply  equivalent  to  ks ;  which,  as  every  Greek 
scholar  knows,  becomes  in  the  inflections  of  that  language 
uniformly  |,  in  English  x.  Hence  we  find  that  the  Greeks  only 
obeyed  the  laws  of  their  own  language  in  representing  Khsh 
by  X  in  Xerxes.  They  represented  the  same  two  letters  again 
by  X  in  Artaxerxes.  The  i/ar  became,  under  their  manipula- 
tion, simply  er.  How  the  remaining  letters  of  the  name  came 
to  be  represented  by  xes  is  not  so  apparent ;  but  it  presents  no 
greater  difficulty  than  the  transformation  of  the  Hebrew  "p"'.^© 
(^Shomeroii)  into  the  Greek  Zayuapeta  (Samaria),  and  other  not 
less  striking  examples  in  the  Septuagint  Scriptures. 

1  See  Appendix,  Excursus  A. 


INTRODUCTION.  H 

In  comparing  Khshyarsha  with  the  Hebrew  Achashverosh, 
we  shall  see  that  the  transliteration  is  much  closer.  .  The  k 
{Aleph)  ^  in  the  Hebrew  is  simply  prosthetic,  and  designed  to 
aid  the  pronunciation.  The  -an  is  an  exact  reproduction  of  the 
Persian  kh:ih,  the  vowel  point  being  a  comparatively  modern 
addition. 

The  1  (t'ay)  is  in  Hebrew  words  so  frequently  interchanged 
with  "^  {i/od),  that  we  need  feel  no  surprise  at  the  substitution 
of  the  former  for  the  latter  here.  It  is  by  this  substitution 
that  the  v  in  the  Hebrew  name  as  spelled  in  English  replaces 
the  7/  in  the  Persian.  The  rsh  of  the  one  is  precisely  rsh  in  the 
other.  Of  the  last  vowel  in  either  case  we  need  make  no  account, 
as  the  Hebrews  were  not  careful  in  giving  the  Persian  vowels. 
The  Hebrew  scholar  will  perceive  that  the  identity  of  the  name 
as  exhibited  in  the  two  languages  is  complete.  Neither  of  the 
other  names  (Daryvush  or  Artkhshtra)  can  be  made  to  yield 
Achashverosh. 

But  we  are  still  met  by  the  difficulty  that  we  have  this  same 
name,  Achashverosh,  in  Ezra  iv.  6,  apparently  applied  to  Cam- 
byses.  This  difficulty,  however,  counts  for  nothing,  when  we 
call  to  mind  that  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  Persian  kings  to 
have  two  names ;  and  it  is  still  more  effectually  disposed  of  by  the 
consideration  that  the  reign  of  Cambyses  is  so  far  from  meeting 
the  historical  requirements  of  the  case  that  no  one  has  thought 
of  finding  in  him  the  Achashverosh  of  the  Book  of  Estlier. 

This  brings  us  back  to  Xerxes.  There  are  eighteen  instances 
of  the  occurrence  of  his  name  in  the  inscriptions  that  have 
been  copied  from  Hamadan,  Persepolis,  and  Van.  It  was  one 
of  the  three  names  upon  which  Grotefend  began  his  great 
deciphering  experiment,  in  which,  as  he  afterward  found,  he 
was  '•  building  better  than  he  knew." 

Four  of  the  inscriptions  are  very  nearly  identical.  Tlie  fol- 
lowing passage  occurs  in  each  of  tlie  four  :  "  I  am  Xerxes 
[Khshyarsha]  the  king,  the  great  king,  the  king  of  kings,  the 
king  of  the  many  peopled  countries,  the  supporter  of  this  great 
world,  the  son  of  Darius  the  Achaemcnian."  This  settles  the 
point  that  Khshyarsha  was  the  son  of  Darius  the  Achaemenian. 
1  See  any  Hebrew  Lexicon,  under  K. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

«» 

An  inscription  by  Artaxerxes  (Ochus),  several  generations 
later,  contains  this  passage  :  "  I  am  the  son  of  King  Arta- 
xerxes, Artaxerxes  [being]  the  son  of  King  Darius ;  Darius 
[being]  the  son  of  King  Artaxerxes  ;  Artaxerxes  [being]  the 
son  of  King  Khshyarsha ;  Khshyarsha  being  the  son  of  King 
Darius ;  Darius  being  the  son  of  one  named  Hystaspes ;  and 
Hystaspes  being  the  son  of  one  named  Arsames  an  Achaemen- 
ian."  This,  being  prefaced  witli  the  declaration,  "  Says  Arta- 
xerxes, the  great  king,  the  king  of  kings,"  etc.,  gives  us  the 
following  well-known  order  of  kings :  Artaxerxes  (Ochus), 
Artaxerxes  (Mnemon),  Darius  (Nothus),  Artaxerxes,  Xerxes, 
Darius  Hystaspis.  Hence  there  is  no  escape  from  the  conclu- 
sion that  Khshyarsha  is  Xerxes.^ 

There  is  another  process  —  that  of  "  eliminating  impossible 
kings,"  as  Rawlinson  has  happily  phrased  it — that  brings  us 
to  the  same  result.  We  begin  with  throwing  out  of  the  account 
all  who  preceded  Darius  Hystaspis,  as  we  are  required  to  do 
by  the  very  first  verse  of  the  book. 

We  must  have  a  sovereign  who  reigned  from  India  to 
Ethiopia.  Darius  Hystaspis  was  the  first  who  carried  the 
Persian  power  into  India. 

1  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  in  his  elaborate  endeavor  to  show  that  Ahasuerus  is  Darius 
Hystaspis,  and  Esther  identical  with  Atossa,  admits  that  "the  name  Hadassah  or 
Atossa  is  applied  by  certain  Greek  writers,  not  only  to  princesses  descended  from 
Darius  and  his  queen  Atossa,  but  to  persons  of  earlier  Persian,  and  even  of  the 
Assyrian  annals.  We  have  the  '  Atossa,  daughter  of  Ariaspes,'  mentioned  by 
Hellanicus  ;  and  in  the  pedigree  of  Cappadocian  kings  given  by  Diodorus  we  have 
an  '  Atossa,  wife  of  Pharnaces,'  who  appears  to  have  been  father's  sister  to  the  great 

Cyrus ; also  Herodotus's  Atossa,  daughter  of  Cyrus,  who  married  Cambyses, 

and  devolved  as  part  of  his  goods  and  chattels  to  his  successor,  the  pretended 
Smcrdis"  (note  p.  183).  Atossa,  the  wife  of  Darius,  and  mother  of  Xerxes,  was 
daughter  of  Cyrus.  And  Herodotus  says  Xerxes  was  son  of  a  king  and  a  queen, 
and  not  as  was  his  competitor,  son  of  a  man  who  became  afterwards  king,  and  of  a 
woman  who  became  afterwards  queen.  How  then  could  Atossa  be  Esther  ?  Tyr- 
whitt is  compelled  to  make  "daughter  of  Cyrus"  a  mere  title,  signifying  nothing 
whatever  as  to  her  paternity.  He  admits  also  (p.  4)  "  that  the  authority  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint  (if  in  such  a  matter  it  be  of  any  importance),  may  be  cited  for  identifying 
the  two  names  Xerxes  and  Ahasuerus ;  since  in  the  original  Greek  version  of  the 
book  of  Daniel,  the  name  Xerxes  is  put  for  the  name  Ahasuerus  at  the  beginning 
of  the  ninth  chapter."  "This,"  he  adds,  "  the  reader  may  see  in  Tischendorf's 
Septuagint,  which  contains  the  older  Greek  version,  as  well  as  in  Theodotion's 
Daniel,  its  substitute,  in  what  we  may  call  the  received  or  vulgate  version  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures." 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

We  must  have  a  king  who  held  his  court  at  Shushan,  or 
Susa.     This  was  true  of  no  one  before  Darius  Ilystaspis. 

We  must  have  one  wlio  was  at  leisure  during  the  third  year 
of  his  reign  for  months  of  feasting,  and  who  had  his  great 
captains  and  military  chiefs,  representing  the  strength  of  the 
whole  Medo-Persian  army  at  leisure  to  join  with  him  in  the 
feast.  This  cuts  off  Darius  Hysta.spis.  For  he  was  not  at  Susa, 
but  at  Babylon  ;  and  his  military  forces,  during  this  part  of  his 
reign,  were  having  serious  work  in  hand,  and  his  throne  was 
too  insecure  to  admit  of  these  six  months'  revels  witli  his 
generals  and  captains.  The  following  brief  calendar  of  the 
first  years  of  his  reign,  made  up  from  the  inscriptions  as 
compared  with  the  existing  histories,  and  accepted  as  the  most 
probable  order  of  events  by  those  who  have  specially  devoted 
themselves  to  the  study,  will  show  something  of  the  strength 
of  this  argument,  Darius  came  to  the  throne  B.C.  521.  Be- 
tween this  date  and  December  B.C.  520  he  sent  an  army  against 
Atrines,  who  had  declared  himself  king,  and  whom  he  over- 
came and  slew.  At  the  latter  date  (b.c.  520)  he  gained  a 
second  battle,  on  his  march  toward  Babylon,  at  Zazana  on  the 
Euphrates.  From  January  B.C.  519  to  September  B.C.  518  he 
was  occupied  with  the  siege  of  Babylon ;  obtaining  possession 
of  the  city  at  the  latter  date,  and  putting  to  death  the  rebel 
king  Nidintabelus.  Before  Darius  was  ready  to  leave  Babylon, 
another  aspirant  for  the  kingly  power  arose,  and  was  recognized 
as  king  throughout  all  Media.  Armenia  and  Assyria  were  also 
drawn  into  the  rebellion.  Two  armies  were  sent  to  meet  this 
new  peril.  It  was  a  most  formidable  revolt,  and  was  not  fully 
quelled  until  Darius  himself  appeared  in  Media,  in  the  summer 
of  B.C.  518.  This  carries  us  beyond  the  third  year  of  Darius, 
and  leaves  him  still  two  or  three  years  of  liard  campaigning 
before  the  revolts  were  all  quelled  and  the  dangers  that 
threatened  his  kingdom  were  overcome. 

We  thus  add,  to  the  decisive  argument  from  the  name,  the 
clear  proof  of  an  alibi  for  the  king,  and  show  that  both  he  and 
his  generals  were  otherwise  employed,  with  the  stern  necessity 
of  revolution  and  war  upon  them,  and  of  course  could  not  have 
been  feasting  at  Susa,  or  Shushan.  There  can  no  longer  be 
any  question  as  regards  Darius. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

Leaving  the  first  of  the  three  kings  that  have  been  suggested, 
let  us  try  the  third.  Artaxerxes  Longimanus.  As  in  the  case 
of  Darius,  the  name  is  against  the  supposition.  Both  the  Per- 
sian original  and  the  Hebrew  transliteration  of  it  are  in  fatal 
disagreement  witli  the  name  which  is  given  in  the  Book  of 
Esther.  The  character  of  this  prince  looks  equally  the  other 
way.  As  given  by  the  profane  historians,  he  appears  "  remark- 
able among  the  Persian  monarclis  for  wisdom  and  right  feel- 
ing." 1  And  with  this  agrees  the  view  we  obtain  of  him  in  the 
books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiali.  The  learned  are  by  no  means 
agreed  as  to  what  kings  are  intended  in  Ez.  iv.  6,  7,  23  by 
Ahasuerus  and  Artaxerxes  ;  some  insisting  that  they  can  be 
no  other  than  Xerxes  and  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  and  others 
assuming  that  the  one  must  be  Cambyses  and  the  other  the 
pseudo  Smerdis.  Whichever  conclusion  be  followed,  it  will 
not  affect  the  argument  that  identifies  Achashverosh  with 
Xerxes  in  the  Book  of  Esther.  Neither  does  it  raise  any 
question  as  to  who  is  intended  by  Artaxerxes  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  Ezra  and  in  the  ,  second  chapter  of  Nehemiah.  In 
the  seventh  chapter  of  the  former,  containing  "  a  copy  of  the 
letter  which  king  Artaxerxes  gave  unto  Ezra  the  priest,"  we 
have,  beyond  a  question,  the  Artaxerxes  who  succeeded  Xerxes, 
i.e.  Artaxerxes  Longimanus.  It  was  in  his  seventh  year  (Ez. 
vii.  7)  that  the  letter  was  given.  And  in  this  letter  we  find  a 
spirit  of  kindness  and  respect  manifested  for  Ezra  and  his 
people,  and  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  Jehovah,  that  we  can  by 
no  means  attribute  to  Ahasuerus. 

We  find  in  him  the  same  temper  and  the  same  spirit  tliirteen 
years  later,  when  Nehemiah  asks  for  leave  of  absence  from  the 
palace,  and  for  letters  of  credit  and  authority,  that  he  may  the 
better  rally  his  countrymen  and  secure  the  rebuilding  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

Certainly,  this  could  not  be  the  monarch  to  whom  Ilaman 
ventured  to  talk  about  the  Jews  as  though  he  were  wholly 
ignorant  of  them  ;  speaking  of  tliem  as  a  certain  people  scat- 
tered abroad  and  dispersed  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  kingdom, 
with  laws  diverse  from  all  people.     Still  less  could  he  assume 

1  Bishop  Cotton.    See  also  Diod.  xi.  71. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

that  this  sovereign  would  take  his  word  as  decisive  that  it  was 
*'  not  for  the  king's  profit  to  tolerate  them,"  and  sanction,  with- 
out inquiry,  the  decree  for  their  destruction.  We  are  evi- 
dently looking  at  the  wrong  man.  The  story  does  not  agree 
with  his  character  any  more  than  the  name  with  his  name. 
Thus  we  are  brought  back  again,  by  the  demands  of  the  his- 
tory, to  Xerxes.  He  is  chronologically  between  the  other  two, 
which  disposes  of  the  whole  question  of  date.  If  the  dates 
assigned  to  them  are  severally  admissible,  his  must  certainly 
pass  unchallenged.  The  name  is  demonstrably  one  and  the 
same,  and  the  character  l)erits  the  history  at  every  point  — 
unreasonable,  imperious,  tyrannical,  reckless  of  human  life, 
impious,  capricious,  and  cruel.  The  story  of  his  scourging  the 
Helles}X)nt,  as  told  by  Herodotus,  shows  us  the  man,  and  pre- 
pares us  for  all  that  is  told  of  him  in  the  Book  of  Esther.^ 
Such  a  man,  we  should  say  at  once,  was  only  true  to  himself 
in  issuing  a  decree  of  wholesale  slaughter  at  a  word  from  his 
favorite  minister,  and  then,  in  another  turn  of  his  capricious 
will,  condemning  that  same  favorite  minister  to  instant  death. 
Having  found  this  striking  agreement  of  name,  of  epoch, 
and  of  character,  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  we  should 
find  the  sacred  and  profane  histories  assigning  the  same  time 
and  place  for  the  gathering  of  the  military  counsellors  of 
Xerxes.     It  is   true   the   records  .look   different   ways ;   one 

1  "  When  Xerxes  heard  of  what  had  happened  (the  destruction  of  his  bridge  by 
a  tempest),  he  was  so  enraged  that  he  ordered  three  hundred  lashes  to  be  inflicted 
on  the  Hellespont,  and  a  pair  of  fetters  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea.  I  have  been  in- 
formed that  he  sent  some  executioners  to  brand  the  Hellespont  witb  marks  of  igno- 
miny ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  ordered  those  who  inflicted  the  lashes  to  use  these 
barbarous  and  mad  expressions  :  '  Thou  ungracious  water,  thy  master  condemns 
thee  to  this  punishment  for  having  injured  him  without  })rovocation.  Xerxes,  the 
king,  will  pass  over  thee  whether  thou  consentest  or  not,'  etc.  After  thus  treating 
the  sea,  the  king  commanded  those  who  presided  over  the  construction  of  the  bridge 
to  be  beheaded.  These  commands  were  executed  by  those  on  whom  that  unplcas- 
ing  ofSce  was  conferred."  —  Herod.  Beloe's  translation,  p.  .332.  Keil  points  to  the 
similarity  in  the  character  of  the  Achashverosh  of  this  book  to  that  of  Xerxes,  "  a 
barbarous,  whimsical,  debauched  despot,  inclined  also  to  adopt  senseless  measures." 
So  Scaliger,  Drusius,  Tfcifler,  Carpzov,  Justi,  Eichhorn,  Jahn,  Gesenius,  Her/feld, 
Fuerst,  and,  as  Keil  remarks,  "  almost  all  recent  authors."  Davidson  says  (Introd. 
to  Old  Test.  ii.  1.57) ;  "  The  conduct  of  Xerxes  was  capricious,  and  in  some  case* 
like  that  of  a  madman.  His  disposition  was  sensual  and  cruel.  He  was  prone  to 
indulge  in  riotous  living.     His  measures  were  often  sudden  and  arbitrary." 


IQ  INTRODUCTION. 

toward  the  great  Grecian  campaign,  the  other  toward  an 
important  crisis  in  the  Jewish  history.  But  this  only  makes 
their  agreement  the  more  striking.  Herodotus  was  a  Greek  ; 
and,  with  his  eye  on  Thermopylae  and  Salamis,  he  would  very 
naturally  confine  his  record  to  the  deliberations  which  contem- 
plated the  conquest  of  Greece.  He  saw  nothing  of  importance 
in  the  gathering  at  Susa  but  what  had  a  bearing  on  this. 

The  Jewish  historian,  on  the  other  hand,  cared  very  little 
for  these  strifes  between  the  uncircumcised  heathen  nations, 
and  still  less  for  the  discussions  that  prepared  the  way  for 
them.  He  saw  the  splendor  of  the  feast,  and  traced  the  line 
of  incidents  that  led  on  to  the  crisis  that  was  prepared  for  his 
own  people.  For  them  he  saw  a  Thermopylae  wide  as  the 
empire ;  and  all  else  dwindled  to  insignificance  in  the  com- 
parison. 

Each  account  differs  from  the  other  precisely  as  we  should 
anticipate.  It  is  enough  that  the  time,  the  place,  and  the 
assembly  are  the  same.  Still  another  coincidence  we  have : 
the  one  account  leaps  over  a, chasm  of  four  years,  as  it  should, 
inasmuch  as  Xerxes  is  absent  from  Shushan,  and  is  too  much 
occupied  with  his  Grecian  war  to  meddle  in  the  current  of 
Jewish  affairs  ;  and  the  other  fills  up  that  period,  as  it  should, 
with  the  exciting  incidents  of  the  campaign. 

But  at  the  end  of  the  four  years  the  two  histories  meet  again 
at  Susa,  or  Shushan,  and  show  us  Xerxes  occupying  himself 
with  his  harem.  The  one  writer  is  brought  to  this  point  by 
the  legitimate  course  of  history,  or  because  the  tide  of  events 
brings  him  there  ;  and  the  other  is  brought  to  the  same  point 
because  he  finds  there  the  next  link  in  the  chain  which  his 
purpose  requires  him  to  exhibit.  In  either  case  it  is  perfectly 
natural ;  the  coincidence  was  unknown  to  the  authors,  and  of 
course  undesigned ;  and  it  falls  into  line  with  the  strong  proof 
already  adduced  that  the  Achashverosh  of  Esther  is  no  other 
than  the  Khshyarsha  of  the  inscriptions  and  tlie  Xerxes  of  the 
Greek  historians.  We  regard  this  as  so  thoroughly  settled 
that  we  do  not  hesitate  to  present  the  name  throughout  this 
work  in  that  very  form  in  which  it  is  best  known  to  history. 
We  do  no  more  violence  to  the  Hebrew  when  we  say  Xerxes 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

instead  of  Achashvcrosh,  than  our  received  translation  does  in 
anotlier  case,  when  it  says  Isaiah  instead  of  Yeshayahoo,  or 
Abijah  instead  of  Aveeyyalioo. 

ni.    THE  OHRONOLOGIOAL  DATA  PROM  HEBREW  SOURCES. 

The  relations  of  the  Medo-Persian  empire  to  the  Jewish 
people  began  soon  after  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  or 
not  far  from  B.C.  536.  He  found  the  Jews  under  the  bondage 
of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  and  proclaimed  their  deliverance. 
We  cannot  be  too  often  reminded  of  the  sublime  miracle  of 
prophecy  ^  antedating  the  event  at  least  a  century  and  a  half, 
calling  Cyrus  by  name,  and  declaring  specifically  what  he 
would  do.  Josephus  tells  us  that  Cyrus  was  made  acquainted 
with  this  divine  oracle  and  "  wondered  at  it ;  and  a  certain 
zeal  and  ambition  seized  him  to  accomplish  the  things  that 
had  been  written."  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  regard  this  as 
the  very  method  by  which  "  Jehovah  stirred  the  spirit  of 
Cyrus  "2  to  issue  the  edict  by  which  he  conferred  upon  the 
Jewish  people  the  largest  liberty  of  return,  and  generous  sul> 
sidies  to  aid  them  in  the  rebuilding  of  their  capital  and  temple. 
But  this  left  them  an  equal  liberty  to  remain  where  they  were. 
And  very  many  had  established  themselves  in  situations  and 
employments  which  made  it  for  their  interest  to  remain. 

It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  at  the  time  of  the  events  re- 
corded in  the  Book  of  Esther,  there  were  many  more  Jews  out- 
side of  the  bounds  of  Palestine  than  within  those  bounds.  For 
their  combined  number  nothing  better  than  a- reasonable  con- 
jecture can  be  offered.  Such  a  conjecture,  from  wliich  there 
has  been  no  marked  dissent,  makes  them  approximate  a  total 
of  three  millions. 

The  chronological  data  on  the  Hebrew  side  may  be  pre- 
sented thus.  Mordecai  was  old  enough  to  act  as  the  guardian  of 
Esther  in  her  orphanage  ;  and  the  aspect  of  the  record  is  that 
of  a  guardianship  assumed  in  her  early  childhood.  She  seems 
to  have  obeyed  him  as  a  father.  We  may  assume,  then,  that 
when  Esther  was  twenty  years  of  age  he  was  not  less  than 

1  See  Isa.  xliv.  28  ;  xlv.  1-7.  ^  Ezra  i.  1. 

8 


18  .  INTRODUCTION. 

forty.  Xerxes  came  to  the  throne  B.C.  485.  Esther  became 
his  queen  seven  years  later,  B.C.  478,  when  she  was  presumably 
twenty  and  Mordecai  forty.     Tliis  will  give  us 

Mordecai's  birth  B.C.  518. 

The  birth  of  his  father  Jair,  adding  33  years,        B.C.  551. 

The  birtli  of  his  grandfather  Shimei,  B.C.  584. 

The  birth  of  his  great-grandfather  Kish,  B.C.  617. 

The  last  mentioned  (Kish)  is  said  to  have  been  carried  to 
Babylon  by  Nebuchadnezzar  B.C.  598.  This  would  make  him 
nineteen  years  old  at  that  time.  All  these  suppositions  are 
such  as  are  ordinarily  made  in  dealing  with  historic  problems. 
No  one  of  them  is  overstrained  or  excessive.  All  are  within 
the  bounds  of  an  easy  probability.  Let  us  see  now  how  the 
case  would  stand  with  Esther.  Mordecai  assumed  the  care  of 
her  as  the  daughter  of  his  uncle,  his  father's  brother.  Or, 
in  other  words,  his  father  (Jair)  was  the  brother  of  her  father 
(Abihail),  and  Shimei  was  the  father  of  both.  From  that  point 
backward,  of  course,  the  ancestry  was  one  and  the  same.  It 
is  a*\  entirely  easy  and  natu^-al  supposition  that  Jair  was  twenty 
years  old  when  his  brother  Abihail  was  born.  Esther  might 
then  be  the  first-born  in  the  family  of  Abihail ;  though  we 
are  under  no  necessity  of  supposing  this.  The  lines  of  historic 
possibility  are  elastic  enough  to  admit  of  very  considerable 
departures  from  each  of  these  estimates.  The  essential  point 
is  that  no  historic  probability  is  violated  by  placing  Mordecai 
and  Esther  under  the  reign  of  Xerxes. 


IV.    THE  BOOK  OF  ESTHER  AN  IMPOETANT  CONTRIBUTION 
TO  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  Book  of  Esther  is  a  substantial  addition  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  events  that  belong  to  general  history.  Its  narra- 
tions have  supplied  the  material  for  so  much  as  is  common  to 
it  and  the  writings  of  Josephus  and  the  x\pocrypha.  Where- 
ever  these  enlarge  the  narrative,  they  cumber  it,  giving  us 
pure  inventions,  or  at  best  improbable  traditions.  Occupying 
thus  a  field  that  is  distinctly  and  exclusively  its  own,  it  throws 
much  light  upon  the  condition  of  the  Persian  empire  at  the 


INTRODUCTIO!^.  19 

very  time  "when  it  was  at  the  culmination  of  its  greatness.  It 
shows  us  the  Persian  court  and  society  in  some  aspects  that 
appear  in  no  other  work.  It  enables  the  historian  to  repro- 
duce the  very  scenes  in  which  the  military  advice  that  Xerxes 
sought  was  given.  We  are  sliown  the  tlirone-room  and  the  ban- 
queting hall..  "We  learn  that  discussions  of  grave  matters,  and 
even  of  points  of  established  usage  and  law,  could  go  on  in  the 
latter.  We  learn  that  the  assembly  which  Herodotus  knows 
only  as  a  deliberative  council  was  in  fact  a  great  gathering  for  a 
long-continued  feast ;  that  the  prominent  and  characteristic- 
luxury,  as  is  shown  by  the  very  name  (a  "  drinking-festival*'),^' 
was  wine.  Indeed,  Herodotus  calls  it  an  "  invited  gather- 
ing ;  ""-^  using  very  different  language  from  that  which  he  em- 
ploys when  he  speaks  of  the  council  of  war  which  the  king 
summoned  when  he  had  reached  the  Hellespont.  There,  it  is 
said,  "  Xerxes  sent  a  second  time  for  the  most  esteemed  of  the 
Persians;"*^  a  marked  instance  of  an  undesigned  and  un- 
conscious agreement  on  the  part  of  the  one  historian  with  the 
more  explicit  declaration  of  the  other.  The  second  allusion 
makes  the  occult  harmony  the  more  striking.  We  learn,  too, 
from  the  Hebrew  history,  that  a  part  of  the  king's  object  in 
■this  great  feast  was  to  produce  a  wide  impression  of  the  mag- 
nificence and  grandeur  of  his  court.  He  who  would  rewrite 
the  history  of  Xerxes  now  may  avail  himself  of  the  descrii)tion 
that  is  here  given  of  the  adornments  of  that  immense  hall ;  its 
awnings,  the  most  attractive  that  Oriental  looms  could  pro- 
duce, fastened  to  marble  pillars  by  silver  rings,  apd  its  costly 
pavements,  and  wine-cups  of  gold.  It  was  at  this  feast  ex- 
tended through  half  the  year  that  Xerxes  laid  open  his  plan 
for  the  subjugation  of  Greece.  It  was  amid  all  this  showing 
of  the  resources  and  splendor  at  his  command  that  the  speeches 
of  Mardonius'  and  Artabanus  were  made.  It  greatly  relieves 
the  strain  upon  the  credibility  aud  trustworthiness  of  Hero- 
dotus as  a  historian  when  we  find  ourselves  warranted  in  bring- 
ing in  the  wine-cup  to  explain  the  persistence  and  power  of  a 

1  In  the  Hebrew,  ripco ,  nearly  the  same  as  the  Greek  avfiiroffiov. 

^  ffvWoyov  iiriK\r]Tov  liro««TO. 

^  StvTfpa  (jLiTa.Tri(x}^aro  atp^ris  Utpfffwu  tovs  SoKifiwrdTous. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

phantom  ^  (which  has  been  so  naturally  regarded  as  a  trick  of 
Mardonius),  and  the  vacillations  of  the  monarch  and  of  his 
wisest  counsellor. 

This  counterfeit  phantom  frightens  Xerxes  out  of  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  second  thought  and  his  better  judgment,  and  over- 
comes the  maturer  wisdom  of  Artabanus,  his  uncle.  It  is 
this,  in  fact,  that  seems  to  turn  the  scale,  and  settle  the  point 
that  the  great  expedition  shall  be  undertaken.  Superstition  is 
potent  in  its  way  ;  but  that  a  phantom  should  have  assailed 
a  man  of  the  courage  and  wisdom  of  Artabanus  with  hot  irons, 
and  alarmed  him  with  the  attempt  to  burn  out  his  eyes,  and 
actually  have  succeeded  in  driving  him,  with  a  loud  outcry, 
from  his  couch  and  his  room,  and  been  regarded  "by  him  still 
without  question  as  a  veritable  apparition,  is  strongly  sugges- 
tive of  a  brain  from  which  the  fumes  of  the  wine-cup  have  not 
wholly  passed  away. 

History  cannot  afford  to  neglect  such  causes  when  dealing 
with  the  great  turning-points  of  imperial  power,  especially 
when  they  afford  an  easy  explanation  of  that  which  would 
otherwise  be  insoluble  ;  still  more  when  they  impress  with  so 
much  emphasis  the  most  important  moral  lessons  that  come 
from  the  story  of  the  past. 

The  incidents  that  are  here  contributed  may  well  challenge 
a  comparison  with  any  others  that  have  been  made  known  to 
us  from  that  distant  age.  Why  should  the  deliverance  of 
Greece  from  the  Persian  yoke  by  Themistocles  and  Pausanias 
be  a  more  interesting  event  than  the  deliverance  of  the  Hebrew 
people  by  Mordecai  and  Esther  ?  In  the  one  case  it  was  only 
a  question  of  vassalage  and  of  tribute;  in  the  other  it  was  a 
question  of  unsparing  carnage  —  a  doom  of  death  from  which 
there  was  to  be  no  exception  and  no  reprieve. 

This  history,  for  which  in  some  respects  there  is  no  parallel, 
is  supported,  we  may  almost  say,  beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt.  It  is  impossible  that  any  reasonable  mind  should  re- 
flect-long upon  what  is  implied  in  such  an  observance  as  the 
feast  of  Purim,  celebrated  by  the  Jews  all  over  the  world,  be- 
ginning some  four  or  five  centuries  before  Christ,  and  never 

^  rh  tvapov. 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

intermitted  ;  and  see  how  every  root  and  fibre  of  it  is  contained 
in  this  book,  and  not  find  itself  held  fast  by  the  demonstration 
and  the  conviction  that  the  events  were  real.  If  we  should 
find  a  collision  between  this  and  the  declarations  of  profane 
history,  the  latter  must  give  way.  But  there  is  no  such  col- 
lision. There  is  simply,  as  in  all  ancient  history,  the  task  of 
finding  the  true  order  and  succession  of  the  events,  and  locat- 
ing tliem  as  they  seem  to  have  occurred  in  the  order  of  time, 
or  of  cause  and  effect. 

V.     THE   HELD    OF   EVENTS    GEOGEAPHIOALLY  AND 
ETHNICALLY  CONSIDEEED. 

The  Book  of  Esther  takes  us  out  of  the  bounds  of  Palestine. 
It  has  nothing  to  say  of  Jerusalem,  Samaria,  the  Jordan, 
Carmel,  Lebanon,  or  Herraon.  Its  centre  of  operations  is  far 
away  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  at  the  city  of  Shushan,  or  Susa,  some 
four  degrees  of  longitude  east  of  the  site  of  the  comparatively 
modern  Bagdad.  From  this  seat  of  the  royal  power  it  gives 
us  an  outlook  through  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces 
of  the  Persian  empire.  It  is  a  broad  area.  Previous  history 
had  shown  no  empire  so  extensive.  The  great  empires  of  an 
earlier  date  were  but  satrapies  or  provinces  when  absorbed  by 
this.  Egypt  was  but  an  outlying  district.  The  renowned 
kingdom  of  Lydia  was  not  of  itself  sufficient  for  a  satrapy. 
The  ancient  kingdom  of  Syria,  and  those  of  Assyria,  Armenia, 
Babylonia,  Media,  Bactriana,  and  india  were  swallowed  up  in 
this  vast  domain. 

The  map  inserted  at  the  close  of  this  volume  sets  forth  the 
extent  and  the  divisions  of  the  Persian  empire  in  the  time 
of  Xerxes.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  empire  embraced  frag- 
ments of  the  three  great  original  branches  of  the  human  family. 
Side  by  side,  under  one  government  and  in  one  army,  we  see 
the  Aryan,  the  Semitic,  and  the  Cushite  races.  It  might  well 
be  called  a  "  world-empire." 

VI.    THE  WRITER. 
It  is  no  drawback,  as  regards  the  value  of  the  book,  that  the 
writer  is  unknown.     This  is  true  of  a  very  considerable  number 


22  -  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  sacred  books.  We  are  thrown  back  on  conjecture  and 
uncertain  and  conflicting  traditions.  As  author  of  the  Book 
of  Esther,  Mordecai  has  been  frequently  suggested.  Aben  Ezra 
and  Clement  of  Alexandria  have  given  the  sanction  of  their 
names  to  this  suggestion^  and  the  hypothesis  is  supported  by 
the  fact  that  the  writer  evinces  a  knowledge  of  the  royal 
chronicles  and  the  archives  of  the  empire,  and  an  access  to 
them  such  as  we  must  suppose  Mordecai  to  have  enjoyed.  No 
one  had  greater  facilities  for  this  than  he.  There  is  a  precise- 
ness  of  names  and  dates  and  the  record  of  conversations  that 
seems  to  imply  this  access  to  the  original  sources  of  knowledge. 
But  there  is  nothing  else  to  assure  us  that  he  was  the  writer. 
In  ix.  20  it  is  true  that  we  are  told  that "  Mordecai  wrote  these 
things,  and  sent  letters  unto  all  the  Jews  "  ;  and  we  read  in 
verse  23,  "  The  Jews  adopted  [i.e.  as  an  ordinance  or  custom] 
what  they  had  begun  to. do,  and  what  Mordecai  had  written  to 
them  " ;  and  in  verse  26,  "  Now  because  of  all  the  words  of 
this  letter,"  etc.  But  this  cannot  be  pressed  as  certainly 
bearing  on  the  question  of  |the  authorship  of  the  book.  All 
that  can  be  inferred  is,  that  such  letters,  pertaining  to  the 
observance  of  Purim,  were  known  by  the  author  to  have  been 
written  by  Mordecai.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is,  that  the 
minuteness  of  the  narrative  agrees  well  with  the  hypothesis 
tliat  makes  him  the  author  of  the  book.  But  there  may  have 
been  a  hundred  others,  as  well  or  better  qualified,  to  whom  he 
could  have  given  the  needed  access  to  the  public  records.  We 
are  told  by  the  Rabbi  Azarias  that  it  was  written  by  the  high- 
priest  Joiakim.  But  the  strong  indications,  amounting  almost 
to  a  certainty,  that  the  book  was  written  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  Persian  court,  are  against  this.  Isidore  and  Augustine 
ascribe  it  to  Ezra.  But  all  the  marked  peculiarities  of  the 
book,  except  as  regards  familiarity  with  Persian  affairs,  forbid 
the  adoption  of  their  opinion.  It  would  seem  that  no  one 
could  carefully  compare  the  two  books  bearing  the  names  of 
Ezra  and  Esther  without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
were  certainly  written  by  different  authors.  Whether  Ezra 
wrote  the  whole  of  the  book  bearing  his  name,  or  not,  there  is 
enough  that  is  indisputably  his  to  settle  this  point. 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

According  to  the  Talmud,  the  Book  of  Esther  is  one  of  tliose 
that  were  written  by  the  scribes  of  the  Great  Synagogue.  This 
■would  bring  the  writing  somewhere  between  the  time  of  Ezra 
and  B.C.  300.1  Fr.  W.  Schultz  says  of  this  tradition  tliat  it 
''  evidently  has  reference  not  so  much  to  the  composition  of 
the  book  as  to  its  authoritativeness  and  final  editorial  super- 
vision." With  this  understanding  of  it,  the  Talmud  teaches 
that  the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue  found  tlie  work  already  in 
existence,  and  judged  it  to  be  worthy  of  their  editorial  sanction. 

So  far  as  these  ancient  opinions  antagonize  and  destroy 
one  another,  we  must  of  course  set  them  aside  as  of  no  real 
authority,  and  only  helpful  as  straws  in  the  general  current 
of  early  thought.  Using  them  in  this  way,  we  may  interrogate 
the  book  itself  as  affording  the  most  trustworthy  basis  for  our 
conclusions.  We  shall  not  learn  from  it  the  name  of  the 
author ;  but  we  may  learn  that  which  is  far  more  important  — 
something  of  his  capacity  and  fitness  for  the  work  whicli  he 
undertook ;  and  we  may  assure  ourselves  that  he  wrote  from 
actual  oI)servation  and  personal  knowledge.  He  was  familiar 
with  the  customs  which  he  exhibits,  and  made  faithful  use  of 
the  documents  which  he  consulted.  He  was  a  Jew,  and  keenly 
felt  both  the  peril  and  the  deliverance  which  he  depicts,  and 
no  less  the  fear  and  distress  that  were  produced  by  the  one, 
and  the  exultation  and  joy  that  came  with  the  other.  We 
are  told  that  the  opening  sentence  of  the  book  shows  that 
it  was  not  written  until  after  the  d*eath  of  the  monarch  whose 
deeds  it  narrates.  But  this  is  only  what  we  should  naturally 
assume.  One  who  was  exactly  contemporary  with  Esther 
might  have  been  not  more  than  thirty-five  years  of  age  at  tiie 
time  of  Xerxes'  death.  And  one  who  had  received  in  the 
susceptible  days  of  his  youth  his  impressions  of  the  greatness 
and  splendor  of  the  empire  of  Xerxes  would  very  naturally 
speak  of  him  as  "  that  Xerxes  who  reigned  from  India  even  to 
Ethiopia;''''  not  so  much  to  distinguish  him  from  other  kings 
as  to  aggrandize  him,  throwing  the  emphasis  on  the  words  that 
mark  the  extent  of  his  dominion. 

1  See  Prof.  Plumptre's  articles,  "  Scribes,"  and  the  "  Great  Synagogue,"  in 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  iv.  2865-2873,  3139,  3140. 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

The  information,  then,  which  we  extract  from  the  hook 
itself,  while  leaving  it  among  the  anonymous  books  of  the 
Bible,  is  otherwise  as  definite  as  we  could  ask.  The  book  was 
written  by  a  Hebrew  who  was  competent  as  an  author,  con- 
temporary with  the  events,  familiar  with  the  localities,  char- 
acters, and  customs  of  which  he  speaks,  and  favored  with  ample 
opportunity  to  consult  and  to  quote  the  public  records  and  the 
chronicles  of  the  empire. 

VII.    STYLE  OF  THE  AUTHOK. 

There  is  a  general  agreement  among  critics  as  to  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  style  in  which  this  book  is  written. .  It  is  simple, 
and  precisely  adapted  to  the  work  which  the  writer  undertakes. 
It  is  so  perfect  that  no  one  thinks  of  the  style.  We  look 
through  a  medium  so  transparent  that  we  have  no  sight  of  the 
medium,  but  only  of  the  objects  and  the  events.  There  is  no 
tendency  to  verbosity  or  prolixity,  yet  there  is  no  affectation 
of  conciseness.  The  writer  condenses  his  statements  within 
the  narrowest  limits  that,  are  consistent  with  clearness  of 
diction,  yet  he  is  never  so  sparing  of  words  as  to  be  ob- 
scure. He  does  not  attempt  lofty  flights  or  sublime  periods, 
but  aims  at  distinct  impressions,  and  a  clear  outline  of  events. 
There  is  no  pausing  to  draw  sketches  of  individual  character. 
The  characters  are  made  to  exhibit  themselves  in  their  words 
and  in  their  acts.  Yet  the  reader  is  at  no  loss  in  regard  to 
them.  No  two  of  them  are  alike.  We  could  not  interchange 
them  without  ruining  the  history. 

Much  of  the  fascination  of  the  book  is  due  to  the  skilful 
arrangement  of  parts.  There  is  all  the  effect  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  ascribe  to  the  elaborate  weaving  of  a  plot  in  a 
drama,  or  in  a  work  of  fiction  ;  and  we  find  a  well-devised 
denouement.  Every  thread  and  fibre  is  wrought  into  its  place 
in  the  fabric,  and  there  is  nothing  irrelevant. 

The  Hebrew  is  very  perfect  and  very  pure  ;  admitting  no 
more  Persian  words  than  were  indispensable  to  accuracy  in 
local  delineations,  —  just  enough  to  show  that  the  writer  knew 
how  to  represent  correctly  the  incidents  and  usages  that  had 
no  parallel  in   the  old  Hebrew  commonwealth  to  which  the 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

Hebrew  language  was  originally  accommodated.  Names  of 
offices  and  the  transmission  of  messages  in  a  way  unknown 
before  the  days  of  the  Persian  empire,  etc.,  required  the  intro- 
duction of  new  words,  which  the  Jews  of  Shushan  had  already 
learned  to  use.  As  regards  the  few  words  belonging  to  the 
later  Hebrew  or  Aramaic,  tliey  are  barely  sufficient  to  vindi- 
cate for  the  work  the  date  to  which  we  assign  it.  If  there 
were  none,  the  omission  would  be,  at  least,  embarrassing ;  if 
they  were  greatly  multiplied,  it  would  carry  the  date  too  far 
foward  to  agree  with  other  features  of  the  work. 


Vin.    OUTLINE  OF  THE  WOEK. 

The  Book  of  Esther  is  essentially  historical.  The  events 
gather  about  a  crisis  which  may  be  characterized  as  the  defeated 
plot  of  Haman.  Of  course,  we  must  be  made  acquainted  with 
the  locality,  the  monarch,  the  individuals  who  have  a  prominent 
part,  and  the  circumstances  that  brought  them  into  the  line  of 
events.  We  are  first  shown  the  extent  of  the  Persian  empire 
under  Xerxes ;  the  great  feast  which  he  made  for  the  dignitaries 
of  his  realm,  the  splendor  of  the  banquet-hall,  and  the  display 
which  he  made  of  his  wealth  and  power  ;  then  comes  the  feast 
made  by  Vashti  the  queen  for  the  women  of  the  court ;  then 
the  violation  of  the  proprieties  ahd  usages  of  the  Oriental 
civilization  by  the  monarch  in  his  maudlin  state,  the  refusal  of 
the  queen  to  sacrifice  the  delicacy  of  her  nature  to  his  unrea- 
sonable demand,  the  king's  appeal  to  his  counsello-rs,  and  the 
advice  given  and  accepted  that  brought  about' the  deposition 
of  the  queen  and  her  divorce  from  the  king.  Then  follows 
the  proposition,  which  was  accepted,  to  adopt  measures  to  fill 
the  vacancy  created  by  the  removal  of  the  queen.  This  brings 
in  Esther  the  Jewess,  and  makes  us  acquainted  with  her 
pedigree,  and  also  introduces  Mordecai,  her  cousin  and  guardian. 
Esther  falls  into  the  conscription  of  virgins,  and  is  chosen  by 
the  monarch  and  made  his  queen.  Meanwhile  Mordecai  gains 
an  official  position,  which  is  described  as  "  sitting  iji  the  king's 
gate."  The  kindred  and  nationality  of  Esther  remain  for  the 
present  a  secret.  Mordecai  discovers  and  reveals  a  plot  against 
4 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

the  king's  life ;  the  conspirators  are  executed ;  and  the  whole 
goes  upon  the  record  witli  Mordecai's  name  as  informer. 

Another  important  change  is  the  advancing  of  Haman  the 
Agagite  to  the  position  of  prime  minister,  or  chief  manager  of 
affairs  under  the  king.  A  reverence  is  demanded  for  him 
second  only  to  that  which  was  due  to  the  monarch.  Mordecai, 
as  a  Jew,  has  some  scruple  in  regard  to  this,  and  declines  to 
comply  with  the  demand.  Haman  is  stung  by  his  refusal,  and 
plots  not  only  for  his  destru3tion,  but  for  that  of  all  the  Jews 
in  tlie  empire.  Lots  are  cast  to  determine  the  time  that  will 
be  most  auspicious  for  the  execution  of  the  plot,  and  the 
sanction  of  the  king  is  obtained  to  a  decree  for  the  extermina- 
tion of  the  Jews.  This  becomes  known  to  Mordecai,  and  he 
puts  on  sackcloth,  and  indulges  in  demonstrations  of  mourning 
that  become  known  to  Esther.  This  leads  to  an  interchange 
of  messages,  in  which  he  makes  known' to  her  the  decree,  and 
urges  upon  her  the  great  duty  of  interceding  with  the  king  for 
her  people.  She  points  out  the  danger  to  herself,  but  accepts 
the  duty,  and  addresses  herself  to  it,  after  a  season  of  fasting 
on  the  part  of  herself  and  of  lier  people.  She  seeks  an  audience 
with  the  king,  is  kindly  received,  and  bidden  to  declare  her 
request.  She  goes  no  farther,  at  this  interview,  than  to  invite 
the  king  and  Haman  to  a  banquet  that  she  has  prepared.  At 
the  banquet  she  still  sees  reason  for  delay,  and  appoints  an- 
other banquet  for  the  following  day. 

Haman  is  flattered  and  pleased  with  this  attention,  but 
exasperated  by  passing  Mordecai  on  his  way  home,  and  re- 
ceiving no  homage  from  him.  This  leads  him  to  the  deter- 
mination to  secure  the  destruction  of  Mordecai  at  once.  He 
sets  up  a  stake  on  his  own  grounds  for  the  impalement,^  and 
repairs  in  the  morning  to  the  palace  to  obtain  the  needed  per- 
mission. Meanwhile,  after  a  sleepless  night,  the  king  has 
determined  to  render  some  honor  to  Mordecai  for  the  timely 
service  by  which  he  had  before  saved  his  life.  Haman  comes 
in  while  the  king  has  this  in  mind,  and  is  met  with  the 
question,  "  What  shall  be  done  for  the  man  that  the  king 
wishes  to  honor  ? "  Assuming  that  the  question  means  no 
1  See  Appendix,  Excursus  E. 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

other  than  himself,  he  at  once  suggests  an  imposing  public 
demonstration,  and  finds,  to  his  intense  disappointment  and 
chagrin,  that  Mordecai  is  the  man  to  be  honored,  and  that  he 
himself  is  to  conduct  the  demonstration.  The  banquet  follows 
immediately,  and  the  queen  exposes  Haman's  bloody  plot,  and 
turns  the  tide  of  doom  against  him.  The  sentence  is  passed 
at  once,  and  he  is  impaled  on  the  stake  which  he  had  prepared 
for  Mordecai. 

The  course  of  things  is  now  rapidly  reversed.  Mordecai 
comes  into  Haman's  place,  and  is  allowed  to  devise  a  decree 
that  shall  counteract,  as  far  as  possible,  the  decree  of  doom 
against  the  Jews.  They  are  granted  full  liberty  to  defend 
themselves  and  to  destroy  their  enemies.  •  It  is  seen  that  the 
power  and  good-will  of  the  government  is  on  their  side.  And 
this,  while  it  emboldens  the  Jews,  disheartens  their  enemies, 
and  greatly  diminishes  the  number  of  those  who  were  disposed 
to  attack  them.  The  day  originally  appointed  for  the  slaughter 
of  the  Jews  becomes  a  day  of  deliverance,  and  of  triumph  and 
joy.  Thousands  of  those  who  were  foolhardy  enough  to  attack 
them  are  slain,  and  the  sons  of  Haman  are  impaled ;  but  the 
Jews  refrain  from  appropriating  the  spoil  to  which,  according 
to  the  usages  of  warfare  and  the  special  order  of  the  king, 
they  are  entitled.  The  anniversary  days  of  this  deliverance 
are  appointed  by  Mordecai,.  and  accepted  by  the  Jews,  as  per- 
petual feast-days,  to  take  the  name  Purim  —  the  name  by  which 
the  lot  cast  by  Haman  had  been  designated  ;  and  the  book  is 
closed  with  an  emphatic  statement  of  the  prosperity,  and  great- 
ness of  Mordecai  in  the  empire  of  Persia. 


THE  BOOK  OF  ESTKER. 


CHAPTER    I.  1,2. 

^  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Xerxes  —  that  Xerxes 
who  reigned  from  India  even  to  Etliiopia,  [over]  a  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  provinces — ^in  those  days  when  the  king  Xerxes 
sat  on  the  throne  of  his  kingdom,  which  was  in  Shushan  the 

And  it  came  to  pass  —  "^rj'^i  often  introduces  a  narrative  in  the  sense 
of  it  happened.  Some  would  render  the  expression  "  and  it  was,"  the 
vav  conversive  not  only  marking  the  past  tense,  but  also,  as  they  urge, 
showing  that  the  narrative  is  connected  with  earlier  Jewish  history. 
Days  —  indefinitely  used,  like  our  word  tmie.  Xerxes — the  monarch 
here  brought  before  us  is  Xerxes  the  Great,  the  son  of  Darius  Hys- 
taspis.  Abundant  evidence  of  this  identification  may  be  found  in  our 
Introduction.  When  Xerxes  came  to  the  throne,  in  B.C.  485,  he  was 
probably  about  thirty-five  years  old  —  certainly  no  older,  possibly  even 
ten  years  younger.  (See  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies,  Vol,  iii., 
p.  445,  note  23.)  I'nh  is  allied  to  Hindu,  the  old  native  appellation 
of  the  Indus  River  and  the  province  it  waters  —  western  India,  or  the 
Punjaub  and  Sinde.  By  Ethiopia  the  country  south  of  Egypt  is,  of 
course,  intended.  The  Persian  Empire,  which  had  now  reached  its 
extreme  territorial  magnitude,  was  divided  into  about  twenty  satrapies  ; 
but  our  text  gives  the  number  of  jurisdictions  or  governments  included 
under  these  satrapies,  which  covered  a  region  of  probably  not  less  than 
two  millions  of  square  miles,  or  more  than  half  the  area  of  motlern 
Europe.  (See  Note  on  iii.  12;  also  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies, 
Vol.  iii.  p.  84.  Upon  <iD^"it! ,  see  remarks  of  Tayler  Lewis,  Lange's 
P>cclesiast('s,  p.  /U.) 

2.  When  the  king  Xerxes  sat  —  as  we  should  say,  when  the  king 
was  holding  his  court ;  in  Shushan  —  there  were  "  thrones  of  the 
kingdom  "  also  at  Ecbatana,  Persepolis,  and  Babylon.  The  expression. 
Shushan  the  castle,  ■t^"^?'!!  y^'^'^i ,  which  occurs  ten  times  in  Esther,  is 

29 


30  ESTHER.  [Chap.  I.  3,  4. 

castle  ;  ^  [that]  in  tlie  tliird  year  of  his  reign  he  prepared  a 
banquet  for  all  his  princes  and  his  servants,  (the  military 
power  of  Persia  and  Media,  the  nobles  and  princes  of  the 
provinces  [being]  before  him),  *  when  he  showed  [his]  riches, 
the  glory  of  his  kingdorp,  and  [his]  splendor,  the  pomp  of  his 
greatness,  many  days,  [even]  a  hundred  and  eighty  days. 

further  discussed  in  an  Excursus.  (See  Appendix,  Excursus  B.) 
This  castle,  or  herah,  ttoAi?  of  the  LXX,  hurg  of  Luther's  version, 
seems  clearly  to  have  been  the  upper  city,  or  royal  quarter,  upon  the 
"  palace  mound,"  or  perhaps  upon  all  three  of  the  mounds  ;  for  remains 
of  palaces  have  been  found  upon  the  eastern.  (Loftus'  Chaldea  and 
Susiana,  pp.  401-404.)  The  western  mound  (see  our  plan)  was  un- 
mistakably the  location  of  the  protecting  military  stronghold. 

3.  In  the  third  year  of  his  reign  —  doubtless  during  the  early  spring 
of  B.C.  483.  In  his  second  year,  Xerxes  had  marched  into  Egypt  to 
subdue  a  revolt,  and,  according  to  Ctesias,  had  caused  a  rising  in  Baby- 
lon to  be  suppressed,  and  the  temple  and  many  of  the  shrines  of  that 
city  to  be  destroyed.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted,  then,  that  the  present 
gathering  of  "his  princes  and  'servants  "  (Herod,  vii.  8)  was  intended 
to  afford  opportunity  for  consultation  concerning  the  famous  expedition 
into  Greece  which  he  was  now  planning ;  a  banquet  —  literally,  a 
drinhing -feast,  a  symposium.  For  such  banquets  the  Persians  in 
Xerxes'  day  were  famous  (Herod,  i.  133)  ;  for  all  his  princes  and 
his  servants  —  these  classes  are  further  described  by  appositives.  sug- 
gesting (1)  the  high  military  officers  of  the  empire,  (2)  the  civil 
powers.  Military  power,  ^""n ;  since  it  is  not  probable  that  the  entire 
force  of  Persia  and  Media  was  present  at  Susa,  Bertheau  thinks  that 
only  the  body-guard  of  Xerxes  (see  Herodotus  vii.  40,  41)  is  intended. 
Other  scholars  take  the  meaning  to  be  that  the  host,  or  military  force, 
was  present  simply  in  its  captains  and  leaders  considered  as  represent- 
ing it.  The  nobles,  literally  thefrst  men,  are  those  of  hereditary  rank, 
Persians  ;  princes  of  the  provinces  are  the  satraps  and  others  invested 
with  authority,  but  not  distinctively  Persians  ;  before  him  —  before  his 
face,  is  emphatic  by  position,  and  seems  to  mean  in  his  \ery  presence. 

4.  For  six  months  Xerxes  kept  "  open  house,"  and,  with  the  osten- 
tation which  was  one  of  his  chief  characteristics,  displayed  his  wealth 
and  luxury  in  prodigal  hospitality  to  thousands  of  the  officers  of  gov- 
ernment, who  doubtless  came  and  went  as  they  had  occasion.  The 
Inonarch  enjoyed  a  brief  and  paltry  satisfaction  in  the  amazement  of 


Chap.  I.  5, 6.]  ESTHER.  31 

^  And  when  those  days  were  fulfilled,  tlie  king  prepared  for 
all  the  people  found  in  Shushan  the  castle,  for  both  great  and 
small,  a  banquet  seven  days,  in  the  court  of  the  garden  of  the 
king's   palace.      *  [There   were]    white  and   violet  awnin< 


IfS. 


the  gaping  multitude  —  a  happiness  too  soon  turned  into  gall  by  one 
whom  the  Oriental  despises,  a  woman. 

5.  An  especial  closing  banquet  is  now  given  to  all  the  men  who 
are  dwelling  or  visiting  in  the  royal  town.  Literally  it  is  a  drinking,  tl»e 
word  being  the  same  as  in  i.  3.  But  the  LXX  gives  So;(t;v  in  ver.  0,  here 
iroTov,  A  court,  "sn,  is  an  area,  open  above,  but  surrounded  by  walls. 
colonnades,  or  perhaps,  as  in  the  present  case,  only  by  trees  and  shrubs. 
This  garden  was  the  paradise  of  which  the  Persians  were  so  fond  (Ge- 
senius'  Lex.  sub  C^i^D ;  Lange's  Ecclesiastes,  p.  32).  ^^■'^.  which 
occurs  only  in  Esther  (i.  5 ;  vii.  7,  8),  and  in  Esther  solely  in  the 
present  combination  (with  r2s),  seems  to  be  a  form  of  IT^S  imlcucc.  So 
the  LXX  {oLkov)  suggests.  It  may  therefore  designate  distinctively 
the  great  pillared  hall,  the  foundations  of  which  have  been  discovered 
upon  the  north  mound  (see  on  the  topography  of  Shushan,  Appendix, 
Excursus  B).  Eawlinson  supposes  the  locality  of  the  feast  to  have 
been  the  space  around  this  magnificent  structure,  excluding  its  central 
group  of  pillars,  but  including  the  porticos,  and  amounting  to  an  area 
of  02,949  square  feet,  or  not  quite  an  acre  and  a  half.  But  since  we 
have  Fergusson  with  us  (art.  Shushan,  Smith's  Bible  Diet.)  we  venture 
to  differ  from  one  whose  opinion  carries  great  weighU  Rawlinson's 
locality  would  hardly  be  described  as  "  the  court  of  the  garden."  If 
the  *|r"a  were  a  palace  like  Sargon's,  an  interior  court  }^anted  as  a 
garden  would  be  supposable ;  but  the  existing  remains  of  ancient  Per- 
sian palaces  warrant  no  thought  of  such  a  court  This  "  court  of  the 
garden  of  the  palace  "  was  probably  upon  the  north  mound,  and  east  — 
possibly  west  —  of  the  great  hall  to  which  we  have  just  referred  (see 
note  upon  "  white  marble,"  next  verse). 

G.  The  fact  that  there  is  no  verb  at  the  beginning  of  this  verse 
Bertheau  explains  thus :  "  Mere  intimations  and,  as  it  were,  exclama- 
tions of  excited  a/lmiration  enter  into  the  account  that  is  attempted  to 
be  given,  instea^l  of  quiet  description."  The  same  author  adds:  "The 
n  [initiiil  letter  with  whicli  the  verse  opens]  was  written  large,  jxirhaps 
to  indicate  by  the  writing  itself  that  a  new  description  had  l)een 
begun."  Bertheau  holds  that  the  opening  words  of  this  discourse 
depict  Juxngings  by  which  this  part  of  the  garden  was  separated  from 


32 


ESTHER.  [Chap.  I.  6. 


fastened  with  cords  of  fine  linen  and  purple  to  rings  of 
silver  and  pillars  of  white  marble  ;  couches  of  gold  and  silver 
on  a  pavement  of  blue  stone,  and  white  marble,  and  alabaster, 

other  portions.  It  is,  however,  the  more  common  opinion  that  awnings 
are  intended ;  for,  thougli  the  text  gives  us  no  liglit  upon  the  matter, 
the  usages  of  the  East  and  the  freedom  of  the  banquet  seem  to  favor 
the  latter  view  (Layard,  Nin.  and  Bab.,  p.  530).  The  three  materials 
of  the  awnings  are  considered  by  most  critics  to  be  fine  white  hnen. 
cotton  cloth,  and  blue  stuff.  Concerning  the  two  latter  translations 
there  can  be  no  question.  The  blue  was  more  exactly  violet.  Cotton 
was  not  at  that  time  a  cheap  fabric,  and  the  Persian  captivity  probably 
first  made  the  Jews  familiar  with  its  use.  (For  the  high  estimation  set 
upon  cotton  in  Babylon,  see  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  570.)  The  o])ening 
word  we  prefer  to  regard,  as  Rawlinson  apparently  does  (Pulpit  Com., 
and  Speaker's  Com.,  in  loco ;  see  A.  V.  also),  as  a  noun  equivalent  to 
whiteness,  white  cloth,  or,  in  combination  with  the  following  word, 
white  cotton.  For  we  have  another  word  in  the  next  clause,  yia, 
which  unquestionably  denotes  white  linen,  and  the  two  words  ^W  and 
^^3  occur  in  proximity  in  viii.i  15 ;  though  CB^s,  cotton,  is  not  there 
combined  with  ^in ,  as  if  the  latter  alone  might  then  be  a  sufficient 
designation.  "i*in  occurs  in  only  these  two  instances  in  the  Bible ; 
but  the  use  of  ^^n  (and  ^"n,  a  later  word)  is  not  unfavorable  to  this 
view-  Why,  indeed,  should  two  kinds  of  white  cloth  be  employed  ? 
Bertheau  escapes  this  difficulty  by  rendering  fesis  "variegated  mate- 
rial." But  alternate  strips  of  white  and  violet,  the  royal  colors 
(Speaker's  Com.,  Esther  i.  6),  would  certainly  be  a  very  probable  com- 
bination, one  which  we  find  in  Mordecai's  robe  of  honor  (viii.  15). 
Thus  understood,  the  A.  V.  is  correct,  if  the  word  "  green,"  for  which 
there  is  no  motiern  advocate,  be  omitted.  In  the  next  clause,  yna  is 
unquestionably  fine  white  linen.  "i':a"!5<  was  the  royal  purple  of  an- 
tiquity —  a  color  obtained  from  certain  shell-fish,  and  doubtless  very 
near  our  red  (Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  art.  Colors).  If  (as  we  question 
under  ver.  5)  the  awnings  were  extended  from  the  central  pillars  to 
the  porticos,  sixty  feet,  remarkably  strong  cords,  attachments,  and 
supports  would  indeed  be  needed.  The  material  of  the  pillars  is  iria, 
which  was  also  one  element  of  the  pavement,  and  seems  clearly  to  have 
been  white  marble.  If  these  pillars  were  of  white  marble,  as  we 
think,  tills  feast  was  not  held  under  the  porticos  of  the  discovered  liall, 
the  columns  of  which  are  of  blue  marble  (see  uJd,  in  discussion  of 


Chap.  I.  6, 8.]  ESTHER.  33 

and  red  stone.  "And  they  gave  drink  in  vessels  of  gold, 
even  vessels  differing  from  one  another ;  and  royal  wine  was 
abundant,  according  to  the  hand  of  the  king.  ^And  tlic 
drinking  was  according  to  the  mandate  :  No  compelling.  For 
thus  had  the  king  enjoined  upon  every  official  of  his  house  : 
Do  according  to  the  pleasure  of  each  man. 

the  Pavement.  Appendix,  Excursus  C).  Couches — divans  for  reclin- 
ing at  the  feast,  and  possibly,  though  not  probably,  for  "all  the  people 
found  in  Sliushan  the  castle,  for  both  great  and  small  "  (ver.  5),  to  sleep 
upon.  These  couches  were  perhaps  low  bedsteads  of  silver  and  gold, 
such  as  Xerxes  took  with  him  on  his  Grecian  expedition  (Herod,  ix. 
80-82),  or  divans  covered  with  glittering  fabrics.  The  pavement  was 
not  one  of  mosaics  or  small  tesserae,  but  of  slabs,  or  certainly  of  pieces 
not  much  less  than  a  foot  square,  such  as  compose  all  floors  yet  remain- 
ing from  the  ancient  empires.  The  materials  we  believe  to  have  been, 
as  nearly  as  they  can  now  be  determined  and  briefly  indicated,  blue 
stone,  and  white  marble,  and  alabaster,  and  red  stone.  Certainty  is 
as  hopeless  as  recovery  of  the  pavement.  Though  differing  somewhat 
otherwise,  the  A.V.  margin  seems  to  coincide  with  our  text  as  to  the 
colors.  (For  the  grounds  of  these  renderings,  see  Excursus  upon  the 
Pavement.)  Few  traces  of  conformity  to  the  Hebrew  are  to  be  found 
in  the  LXX  translation  of  this  verse  and  the  next.  The  additions  and 
omissions  are  surprising,  if  not  amusing. 

7.  Golden  drinking  vessels  of  the  Assyrians,  often  representing  the 
head  and  neck  of  some  animal,  as  a  lion  or  a  "bull,  have  been  found. 
Similar  goblets  were  common  among  the*Greeks  and  Etrurians  (Layanl. 
Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  ii.  p.  303).  This  royal  wine  was  very 
possibly  that  of  Helbon  (Ezek.  xxvii.  18,  and  Eil)le  Diet.),  of  wliieli 
Plutarch  (Life  of  Alexander)  says  that  the  Persian  monarch  used  no 
other.  The  remaining  expression  describes  the  free  abundance  of  tliis 
costly  drink,  as  worthy  of  so  rich  and  magnificent  a  king.  "With 
a  liberal  hand,"  or  "  in  right  royal  fashion,"  would  be  a  correct  inter- 
pretation. 

8-11.  The  edict  for  this  feast,  no  compelling,  must  have  occurred  to 
Xerxes  when  he  was  exceedingly  clear-headed.  It  was  all  the  more 
needful  because  the  king  did  not  set  an  example  of  abstinence  (ver. 
10),  and  because  the  Persians  at  this  period  were  hard  drinkers 
(Herod,  i.  133).  The  language  implies  that  compulsion  was  at  least 
sometimes  employed.  Abstinence  on  such  an  occasion  might,  but  for 
6 


34  ESTHER.  [Chaf.  I.  9,11. 

^  Also  Vashti  the  queen  prepared  a  banquet  for  the  women 
in  the  rojal  house  which  [pertained]  to  the  king  Xerxes. 
^^  On  the  seventh  day,  when  the  heart  of  the  king  was  merry 
with  wine,  he  commanded  Mehuman,  Biztha,  Harbonah,  Bigtha 
and  Abagtha,  Zethar  and  Carcas,  the  seven  eunuchs  who  min- 
istered in  the  presence  of  tlie  king  Xerxes,  ^^  to  bring  Yashti  the 
queen  before  the  king,  with  the  crown  royal,  to  show  the  peoples 
and  the  princes  her  beauty ;  for  fair  in  appearance  was  she. 


this  decree,  have  been  esteemed  an  insult  to  the  king.  It  seems  there 
were  officers  of  Xerxes'  realm  whose  religion  or  practices  might  forbid 
the  use  of  wine,  at  least  to  excess.  But  in  our  own  days  of  light  and 
liberty  are  there  not  many  occasions  at  which  men  are  brought  under 
moral  (immoral  ?)  compulsion  to  violate  their  preferences,  if  not  their 
principles  ?  Rather,  if  we  must  have  modern  symposiarchs,  let  them 
adopt  the  motto  of  this  feast,  "  No  compelling."  trn  —  mandate  —  is 
counted  a  word  of  the  later  Hebrew.  It  is  the  ordinary  term  for  irre- 
versible statutes  in  Esther,  Daniel,  and  Ezra,  but  occurs  only  once 
elsewhere  (Deut.  xxxii.  2).  On  the  other  hand,  iTtSB,  the  ordinary 
Old  Testament  word  for  law,  is  found  but  once  in  Esther,  other  syno- 
nyms not  at  all  (see  ii.  8).  Vashti,  whoever  she  was,  plainly  held  the 
recognized  position  of  Xerxes'  consort.  This  particular  royal  house 
was  evidently  one  department  of  the  harem  which,  with  its  court  and 
various  halls,  would  afford  ample  space  for  such  a  banquet  (see  ii.  3) ; 
eunuchs,  D'Oi'iG,  occtfi-s  often  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  uniformly 
rendered  in  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.  by  the  equivalents  of  our  text.  The 
etymology  and  use  of  the  word  render  its  primary  meaning  unques- 
tionable. This  meaning  it  certainly  always  involves  in  the  Book  of 
Esther,  in  which  it  occurs  twelve  times.  To  serve  as  chamberlains  of 
the  king  and  attendants  of  the  harem  were  the  common  offices  of  these 
persons,  who  were  supposed  to  be  especially  trustworthy,  morally  as 
well  as  physically,  —  an  opinion  not  always  well-founded  (e.g.  ii.  21). 
Upon  the  seventh  day  of  indulgence  the  king  reaches  such  a  degree  of 
bonhomie  as  to  command  that  the  queen  should  be  brought  to  the  feast, 
and  her  beauty  be  displayed  to  the  peoples,  nisy,  meaning  the  rei)re- 
sentatives  of  the  many  nationalities  of  the  empire.  Crown,  ^rs.  This 
word,  only  occurring  in  Esther,  is  used  of  the  tiara  of  both  king  (vi. 
8)  and  queen  (ii.  17).  ST^ms  is  a  common  word  for  '•  crown,"  used  in 
the  case  of  Mordecai  (viii.  15).    The  present  word  doubtless  means  the 


Chap.  I.  12,  14.  ESTHER.  35 

^2  But  the  queen  Vashti  refused  to  come  at  the  comniaiid  of 
the  king,  which  was  given  by  the  eunuchs.  And  the  king  was 
exceedingly  enraged,  and  his  wrath  burned  in  him.  ^^  And 
the  king  said  to  the  wise  men  wlio  understood  the  times  (for 
such  was  the  manner  of  the  king  towards  all  who  understood 
law  and  judgment ;  ^^  And  next  to  him  were  Carshena,  Shethar, 
Admatha,  Tharshish,  Meres,  Marsena,  Memucan,  the  seven 
princes  of  Persia  and  Media,  who  saw  the  face  of  the  king, 

kidaris  of  the  Persian  monarchs  —  a  tall,  stiff  cap,  set  with  jewels- 
No  monument  exhibits  a  Persian  woman  of  this  period  ;  but  probably 
the  queen's  kidaris  differed  from  her  partner's  only  in  its  details  (Auc 
Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  204).  Ministered,  ver.  10,  means  did  honorary  service. 
The  LXX  makes  the  seven  men  '•  deacons,"  in  the  original  sense ; 
and  in  that  version  the  first  upon  the  list  is  Haman,  which  Mehuman 
would  resemble  if  the  o  be  omitted.  As  for  the  six,  it  is  difficult  to 
discover  much  relationship  between  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  names. 

12.  The  law  of  Persian  propriety,  like  that  now  ruling  in  the  Orient, 
forbade  woman  to  unveil  herself  before  the  other  sex  in  general.  On 
such  an  occasion  as  this  it  was  the  right  of  a  lawful  wife  to  refuse  her 
presence.  Even  at  Belshazzar's  feast  in  Babylon,  where  history  shows 
that  this  rule  of  modesty  was  less  authoritative,  it  appears  that  the 
queen  mother  (Nitocris?)  was  not  present  until  the  hand  upon  the 
wall  summoned  her  (Barnes  upon  Dan.  v.  3,  4).  Vashti's  refusal  to 
obey  the  royal  command  was  an  act  to'  be  commended  under  any  pos- 
sible interpretation  of  this  passage.  But  it  was  a  serious  step.  No 
wonder  that  it  should  arouse  the  wra!h  of  a  Persian  king,  especially 
when  under  the  influence  of  the  intoxicating  cup. 

13,  14.  Wise  men  who  understood  the  times  were  probably  adepts 
in  astrology,  the  science  of  sciences  in  ancient  Persia.  They  were 
magi,  pre-eminent  in  that  and  all  other  wisdom.  The  latter  part  of 
vs.  13  seems  to  suggest  that  the  king  was  accustomed  to  consult  such 
men  concerning  important  matters  ;  understood  —  therefore  were 
qualified  to  interpret  (.Josephus,  Antiq.  xi.  vi.  1)  ;  law  and  judgment — 
the  latter,  in  contradistinction  to  the  former,  means  uneiiactcd  cijuity, 
or  certainly  justice  in  a  more  general  sense,  as  taught  by  all  liunian 
and  divine  Jaws. 

The  Persian  king's  cabinet  usually  consisted  of  seven  counsellors 
(Ezra  vii.  14;  comp.  Herod,  iii.  84;  Ctesias  14).  If  there  were  other 
advisers,  as  next  to  him  might  imply,  these  were  their  representatives. 


36  ESTHER.  [Chap.  I.  15,  20. 

[and]  sat  first  in  the  kingdom)  :  ^^  According  to  law  what  is  to 
be  done  to  the  queen  Yashti,  inasmuch  as  she  has  not  done 
the  bidding  of  the  king  Xerxes,  given  by  the  eunuchs  ? 

1^  And  Memucan  said  before  the  king  and  the  princes :  Not 
to  the  king  alone  has  Vashti  the  queen  done  wrong,  but  to  all 
the  princes  and  all  the  peoples  who  are  in  all  tlie  provinces  of 
the  king  Xerxes.  ^^  por  the  refusal  of  tlie  queen  will  go  forth 
to  all  the  women  and  make  their  lords  despicable  in  their  eyes, 
when  they  shall  say :  The  king  Xerxes  commanded  to  bring 
Yashti  the  queen  before  him,  and  she  came  not.  ^^  And  this 
very  day  the  princesses  of  Persia  and  Media,  who  have  lieard 
of  the  refusal  of  the  queen,  will  reply  to  all  the  princes  of  the 
king,  and  there  will  be  contempt  and  strife  enough.  ^^  If  it 
seem  good  to  the  king,  let  a  royal  mandate  go  forth  from  him, 
and  let  it  be  written  in  the  laws  of  Persia  and  Media  —  and  it 
shall  not  be  changed  —  that  Vashti  shall  not  come  before  the 
king  Xerxes,  and  that  her  queenship  the  king  will  give  to 
another  better  than  she ;  '■^^  and  the  decree  of  the  king  which 
he  shall  make  will  be  heard  in  all  his  kingdom,  —  for  it  is 

Some  of  them  may  have  been  of  foreign  birth,  but  all  had  evidently 
received  Persian  names.  These  seven  were  permitted  to  stand  in  the 
presence  of  the  king  ;  to  sit,  and  sit  first,  before  all  other  potentates  of 
the  realm.  At  this  point  the  frequent  divergence  of  the  LXX  is 
especially  marked,  in  its  giving  only  three  names,  and  those  appai-ently 
of  its  own  coinage  —  Arkesaeus,  Sarsathaeus,  and  Malisear. 

15-20.  To  king  Xerxes'  inquiry  for  the  statute  law  which  punishes 
the  disobedience  of  a  wife,  Memucan  replies  (in  the  LXX,  Mouxatos, 
a  person  not  before  mentioned  in  that  text).  Possibly  less  acceptable 
radvice  had  already  been  suggested  ;  or  Memucan  may  have  spoken 
.first  because  of  seniority,  or  for  some  other  reason  —  his  name  being 
rhetorically  placed  at  the  end  of  the  list  in  ver.  14.  Memucan's  words 
are  shrewd,  bespeaking  one  wise  in  human  nature,  and  in  the  peculiar 
variety  thereof  found  in  an  Oriental  despot.  He  first  artfully  exag- 
gerates the  offence  of  the  queen  into  an  evil  which  it  was  for  the 
interest  of  every  husband  in  the  empire  to  have  at  once  checked.  He 
then  suggests  a  decree  which  would  have  this  effect,  and  finally  describes 
the  beneficial  results  to  be  expected  from  its  enactment.     In  ver.  18 


CiiAP.  I.  21,22.]  ESTHER.  37 

vast,  —  ami  all  the  women  will  give  honor  to  Ihcir  lords,  both 
to  great  and  small. 

'■^^  And  the  counsel  was  good  in  the  eyes  of  the  king  and  the 
princes,  and  the  king  did  according  to  the  counsel  of  Memucan. 
22  And  he  sent  letters  into  all  the  provinces  of  the  king,  into 
every  province  according  to  its  writing  and  to  every  people 
according  to  its  tongue,  that  each  man  should  be  ruler  in  his 
own  house,  and  should  speak  according  to  the  language  of  his 
own  people. 

Persia  is  placed  before  Media,  because  it  had  now  assumed  the  prece- 
dence ;  while  in  Daniel  (vi.  8,  15,  etc.)  the  order  of  the  names  is 
adapted  to  the  Median  viceroy  then  upon  the  throne;  speak,  ver.  18, 
is  peculiarly  emphatic,  having  a  force  that  only  an  Oriental  can  fully 
appreciate,  equivalent  to  speak  out,  or  indulge  the  power  of  the  tongue 
in  reply  or  refusal.  [The  LXX,  with  its  usual  freedom,  paraphrases 
thus  :  "  Shall  dare  in  like  manner  to  dishonor  their  husbands."  —  Ed.] 
According  as  woman's  sphere  has  been  narrow,  has  she  been  skilful 
to  make  her  words  more  dreadful  than  the  hottest  assaults  of  war. 
For  it  is  vast,  a  sly  flattery.  Honor,  ver.  20.  "  Here  and  in  the 
account  of  the  honors  paid  to  Mordecai  the  English  word  'honor-  is 
not  at  all  adequate  to  the  translating  of  the  Hebrew ;  "ij?-^  retains  its 
meaning  of  costliness  or  preciousness,  designating  that  which  is  valuable 
because  it  is  scarce  —  that  which  it  is  difficult  to  get  and  easy  to  lose. 
The  idea  here  is  that  the  women  will '  come  to  regard  their  husbands 
as  peculiarly  valuable  and  rather  precarious  possessions,  against  the 
alienation  of  which  they  need  to  guard  with  peculiar  care."  —  Prof. 
"Willis  J.  Beecher. 

21,  22.  The  counsel  was  unanimously  approved,  and  the  decree  was 
enacted.  Vashti  was  put  away,  and  all  queenly  possessions  and  rights 
taken  from  her.  The  last  clause  of  ver.  22  probably  refers  to  domestic 
trouble  which  arose  from  the  diversity  of  nationalities  and  languages 
common  in  the  households  of  these  polygamous  Persians.  But,  what- 
ever the  meaning,  concerning  the  correctness  of  our  rendering,  in 
which  substantially  the  LXX  and  Vulgate  have  preceded  u.s,  there 
can  be  no  question. 

With  reference  to  the  diversity  of  languages,  we  cite  one  of  our 
earlier  collaborators :  "  In  the  passages  quoted  the  statement  several 
times  appears :  '  unto  every  province  according  to  the  writing  thereof, 
and  to  every  people  after  their  language.'     Two  quite  different  things 


38  -  ESTHER.  [Chap.  II.  1-3. 

II.  ^  After  these  things,  when  the  wrath  of  the  king  Xerxes 
had  subsided,  he  remembered  Vashti,  and  what  she  had  done 
and  what  was  decreed  against  her. 

2  Tlien  tlie  young  men  of  the  king,  his  attendants,  said  :  Let 
young  virgins,  fair  in  -appearance,  be  souglit  for  the  king. 
3  And  let  the  king  appoint  officers  in  all  the  provinces  of  his 

are  referred  to  in  the  words,  namely,  the  language  used,  and  the  char- 
acter in  which  that  language  was  written.  Latin,  Greek,  Arabic, 
Hebrew,  Assyrian,  etc.,  are  not  only  different  languages,  but  each  has 
a  distinct  character.  In  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces  sub- 
ject to  Persia  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  different 
languages  were  spoken,  or  how  many  distinct  aljDhabets  were  used ; 
probably  the  number  was  large,  much  larger  than  is  known  to  history. 
Think  of  the  number  of  educated  scribes  required  to  carry  on  cor- 
respondence in  the  various  tongues  !  "  —  S.  M. 

Chap.  II.   1.  When  the  wrath  of  the  kin<?  Xerxes  had  subsided  — 

doubtless  his  anger  was  brief  in  proportion  to  its  violence ;  and,  as 
these  words  seem  to  intimate',  within  a  very  few  weeks  he  could 
think  more  calmly  of  his  former  queen ;  he  remembered  Vashti  — 
evidently  she  was  a  woman  of  power,  as  well  as  of  beauty  and 
modesty.  She  had  been  more  to  Xerxes  than  he  was  aware,  and  now 
to  his  sober  judgment  what  she  had  done  only  enhanced  her  worth. 
He  remembered  also  what  was  decreed  against  her.  "i.^f?  means  cut 
off,  decided  irrevocably.  The  question  stirred  itself  within  him.  Did 
not  Vashti  deserve  honor,  rather  than  punishment  ?  Xerxes,  a  heathen, 
utterly  selfish  and  sensual  as  he  was,  felt  that  he  had  done  wrong. 

2.  Perhaps  not  young  men  distinctively.  The  word  was  used,  as 
our  "  boy  "  often  is,  for  an  attendant  of  any  age.  l-n^^j^  denotes  those 
who  do  honorary  service,  such  as  chamberlains,  lords  in  waiting;  in 
distinction  from  the  D''^'??  servants  or  slaves  who  performed  the  more 
menial  duties.  Xerxes'  personal  attendants  saw  the  evidences  of 
remorse.  All  had  reason  to  fear  such  a  frame  of  mind ;  while  some 
of  them  may  have  had  special  reason  to  dread  a  recall  of  Vashti.  On 
this  account  they  propose  to  the  king  a  plan,  the  details  of  which  are 
t^iven  in  the  following  verses,  n'bipa,  a  condition  it  was  more  needful 
to  specify  in  Persia  than  in  our  own  country ;  fair  in  appeaxance  — 
"  beautiful,"  as  we  say. 

3.  For  Shushan  the  castle  occurring  here  and  in  ver.  5,  8,  (see 


Chap.  II.  4-G.I  ESTHER.  39 

kingdom,  and  let  them  gather  cveiy  young  vu-gin,  fail-  in 
appearance,  to  Shushan  the  castle,  to  the  house  of  the  women, 
to  the  care  of  Hege  the  king's  eunuch,  the  keeper  of  the  women, 
and  let  their  precious  ointmeiits  be  given,  *  and  let  the  maiden 
who  is  pleasing  in  the  eyes  of  the  king  reign  instead  of  Vashti. 

And  the  counsel  was  good  in  the  eyes  of  the  king,  and  he 
did  so. 

^  There  was  a  man.  a  Jew,  in  Shushan  the  castle,  and  his 
name  Avas  Mordecai.  the  son  of  Jair,  the  son  of  Shimei,  the 
son  of  Kish  a  Benjamite  *^  who  had  l)oen  carried  captive  from 

i.  2).  the  house  of  the  women  is  specified  as  a  part  of  the  royal 
quarter  (ver.  8).  As  a  rule,  in  the  East,  a  separate  portion  of  the 
house,  or  a  distinct  building  within  the  same  enclosure,  is  assigned  to 
the  females  of  a  family.  Such  was  the  custom  from  a  very  early  age. 
The  remains  of  the  palace  of  Sargon  at  Khorsabad  are  the  best  illus- 
tration of  the  Assyrian  form  of  a  domiciliary  palace.  (For  details  see 
FergusEon,  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Persepolis,  pp.  239,  251  ;  Anc. 
Mon.,  Vol.  i.  p.  281.)  It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  gynecaeum 
of  Xerxes  at  Susa  consisted  of  one  or  more  distinct  edifices,  as  at  Per- 
sepolis, of  which  see  our  plan;  their  precious  ointments,  ver.  9,  12. 

4.  "  Wicked  men  are  ready  to  follow  advice  when  it  encourages 
them  in  vileriess  and  sin.  The  attendants  show  their  character  in  the 
counsel  they  give,  and  Xerxes  shows  his  character  in  that  he  is  so  ready 
to  comply  with  it."  —  J.  M.  G. 

5,  6.  One  of  God's  chosen  people,  now  comes  upon  the  scene: 
a  man,  a  Jew  —  as  we  should  say,  "a  certain  Jew."  The  name 
Mordecai  is  probably  connected  with  Marduk  or  Merodach,  the  As- 
syrian god.  "  It  may  have  been  given  to  his  son  by  a  Babylonian  Jew 
without  thought  of  heathen  derivation  and  meaning,  or  out  of  compliment 
to  some  Babylonian  friend  or  master."  —  Rawlinson.  Some  identify 
Mordecai  with  Matacas,  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  Xerxes'  eunuchs 
(see  ver.  7).  The  Mordecai  of  Ezra  ii.  2 ;  Neh.  vii.  7  is  not  the 
person  now  before  us;  and  recurrence  of  favorite  names  in  the  same 
tribe  or  family  is  also  seen  in  the  case  of  Shimei  and  Kish,  if  we  com- 
pare this  passage  with  2  Sam.  xvi.  5  ;  1  Sam.  ix.  1.  These  could  not 
have  been  the  same  persons  with  those  of  our  text;  for  relationship  to 
the  famous  king  Saul,  did  it  exist,  would  surely  be  mentioned  in  a 
genealogical   identification.       Moreover,    chronological    considerations 


40  ESTHER.  [Chap.  II.  7. 

Jerusalem  with  the  captives  who  were  brought  away  with 
Jecouiah,  king  of  Judah,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Baby- 
lon, made  captive.  "  And  he  was  bringing  up  Hadassah,  that 
is,  Esther,  his  uncle's  daughter ;  for  she  had  neither  father 
nor  mother.  And  the  uiaiden  was  beautiful  in  form  and  fair 
in  appearance ;  and  at  the  death  of  her  father  and  mother 
Mordecai  had  taken  her  to  himself  for  a  daughter. 

forbid  that  it  should  have  been  Mordecai  who  was  carried  captive  with 
Jeeoniah,  B.C.  598,  more  than  one  hundred  years  before  this  time^  but 
favor  the  alternative  that  it  was  Kish.  The  conjunctions  l,  at  the 
beginning  of  ver.  7,  and  before  iso  in  ver.  5  afford  further  evidence 
in  this  direction.  We  may  be  certain  that  who  refers  to  Kish,  and 
not  to  Mordecai,  and  that  all  these  persons  are  new  to  the  sacred 
record.  Three  important  deportations  of  the  Jews  are  mentioned,  as 
follows  :  (1)  During  the  reigns  of  Jehoiakim.B.c.  605  ;  (2)  Jehoiachin 
or  Jeeoniah,  B.C.  598 ;  and   (.3)   Zedekiah,  B.C.  586  (2  Kings  xxiv., 

XXV.). 

7.  Judging  from  its  ordinary  use,  the  verb  '\^k  suggests  "  that  Mor- 
decai took  Hadassah  in  her  infaVicy,  and  bore  her  on  his  arm  with  the 
love  and  care  of  a  father."  It  is  (1)  not  mentioned  that  he  had  wife 
or  cliildren  of  his  own.  This  mere  lack  of  evidence,  with  (2)  his 
adoption  of  a  female  cousin,  and  (3)  "  the  ready  access  which  he  had 
to  the  harem  of  Xerxes"  (ii.  11,  22;  viii.  7)  lead  Rawlinson  to  the 
conclusion  that  Mordecai  was  a  eunuch  (Speaker's  Com.,  Esther  ii.  5). 
We  question  whether  these  arguments  are  sufficient.  The  adoption 
mentioned,  even  if  Mordecai  were  an  ordinary  unmarried  man,  is  not 
surprisuig  among  Jews,  wherever  they  were  living.  Certainly,  the 
third  reason  is  not  determinative,  as  is  shown  below  (ver.  11,  22).  A 
probability  in  tliis  direction,  however,  may  be  drawn  from  certain 
scripture  (2  Kings  xx.  17,  18;  Isa.  xxxix.  7),  and  from  the  Persian 
customs  concerning  those  who  served  in  the  royal  precincts,  as  Mor-' 
decai  plairdy  did.  Hadassah  is  a  Hebrew  name,  from  hadas,  "  the 
myrtle,"  a  beautiful  and  favorite  shrub  of  the  East.  In  the  vocal  ele- 
ments of  this  word  Tyrwhitt  finds  Atossa,  a  favorite  royal  name  of  the 
Persian  court.  Esther  probably  had  the  meaning  in  old  Persian  of 
star,  a  word  which  has  essentially  the  same  consonantal  elements  with 
Esther ;  a  likeness  obtaining  also  in  dori^p  Greek,  c^tare  Zend,  and 
siiareh  modern  Persian.  Of  similar  derivation  is  Ashtoreth,  the  name 
of  the  Assyrian  goddess,  from  which,  as  some  suggest,  comes  the  name 


Chap.  II.  8-10.  ESTHER.  41 

^  And  it  came  to  pass  when  the  command  of  the  khig-  and 
his  law  were  heard,  and  many  maidens  were  gathered  to 
Shushan  the  castle,  to  the  care  of  Hege,  Esther  also  was  taken 
to  the  house  of  the  king,  to  the  care  of  Hege,  the  keeper  of 
the  women.  ^  And  the  maiden  was  pleasing  in  his  eyes  and 
received  kindness  before  him  ;  and  he  hastened  to  give  lier 
her  precious  ointments  and  her  portions,  and  to  apjwint  her 
from  the  house  of  the  king  seven  selected  maidens  ;  and  he 
ciianged  her  and  her  maidens  to  tlie  best  part  of  the  house  of 
the  women. 

^° Esther  had  not  declared  her  people  and  her  lineage;  for 

of  Esther.  Uncle  —  ^i'n,  an  uncle  on  the  father's  side,  literally,  a 
friend.  Esther's  father,  Abihail  (ver.  15),  and  Mordecai's  father,  Jair, 
were  brothers.  The  heroino  of  our  story  was  probably  twenty  years 
old,  and  Mordecai  could  not  have  been  less  than  thirty  or  forty,  since 
it  appears  that  he  adopted  his  cousin  when  she  was  young. 

8.  Unless  the  piety  of  the  Jews  had  greatly  declined,  they  could  only 
abhor  an  alliance  with  a  heathen,  even  though  king  of  Persia.  But, 
whatever  his  previous  feeling,  after  escape  became  hopeless  Mordecai 
desired  that  Esther  might  win  the  prize,  as  we  see  from  ver.  10.  May 
not  Mordecai  have  had  faith  that  Esther  was  to  prove  acceptable,  and 
as  queen  bring  blessings  to  her  captive  race  ?  May  he  not  have  prayed 
that  God  would  tlius  bless  their  nation  ?  That  the  maidens  were 
brought  to  the  king's  house  does  not  prove  a  palace  like  Sargon's ; 
for  the  house  of  the  women,  however  located,  was  royal  property ;  nor 
is  any  wide  separation  between  "the  house  of  the  king"  and  "  tlir  ho\ise 
of  the  women"  indicated  by  ver.  13.  The  Hebrew  .of  Hege  in  ver.  3 
is  here  and  in  ver.  15  Hegai,  as  in  the  A.V.  Slight  variations  in  the 
spelling  of  proper  names  are  now,  and  have  always  been,  too  common  ; 
command,  "^r^,  seems  to  indicate  a  less  formal  decree  than  law  ('•man- 
ilutc";   see  i.  8). 

9.  Pleasing,  literally,  (/oo^/.  "avmd  sia  occur  continually.  ''Good" 
covers  a  very  broad  range  of  ai)proval  in  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  most 
Oriental  tongues.  For  the  word  riria,  portions  (of  food),  compare  ix. 
19,  22,  and  concerning  the  custom,  Dan.  i.  5.  It  seems  that  seven 
maidens  were  given  to  each  candidate  for  royal  favor;  l)ut  Esther's 
were  siiccially  selected. 

10.  The  knowledge  that  Esther  belonged  to  a  subject  people  might 

6 


42  ESTHER.  [Chap.  II.  11,  12. 

Mordecai  had  enjoined  upon  her  that  she  should  not  declare 
[them].  1^  And  every  day  Mordecai  walked  before  the  court 
of  the  house  of  the  women  to  learn  of  the  welfare  of  Esther 
and  what  was  done  with  lier. 

^2  And  when  tlie  turn  of  each  maiden  came  to  go  to  the  king 
Xerxes,  after  she  had  been  twelve  months  according  to  the  law 
of  the  women  ;  for  so  were  fulfilled  tlie  days  of  their  purifica- 
tion, six  months  with  the  oil  of  myrrh,  and  six  months  with 
fragrant  spices  and  with  the  precious  ointments  of  the  women, 

^ave  aroused  prejudice,  hence  Mordecai's  command.  Her  name  being 
Persian,  no  one  in  authority  seems  to  have  suspected  her  true  nation- 
ality. There  "  is  a  time  to  keep  silence,  and  a  time  to  speak  "  (Eccl. 
iii.  7).  "  When  the  proper  time  came  Esther  made  known  the  fact 
that  she  belonged  to  a  conquered  race  (vii.  4).  We  should  never  fear 
to  stand  by  the  truth ;  but  there  may  be'  a  wise  choice  in  the  times  and 
ways  of  announcing  it."  —  J.  M.  G. 

11.  Probably  Mordecai,  since  he  lived  in  Shushan  the  berah  (ver. 
5),  already  served  in  some  humble  capacity  at  the  gate  of  the  king; 
though  it  seems  implied  in  iv.  2  that,  unless  clad  in  mourning,  any 
citizen  might  enter  this  gate ;  court,  etc.,  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
harem  buildings  were  grouped  around  an  open  square,  ov  had  an 
interior  open  square,  as  at  Khorsabad.  All  such  buildings,  being  of 
cheaper  materials  than  stone,  have  perished  ;  but  their  arrangement 
probably  differed  considerably  from  the  pillared  halls  and  palaces. 
The  supposition  of  a  double  entrance  to  the  harem  court,  like  that  at 
Khorsabad,  might  explain  the  hithpael,  '^ibnrp,  to  toalk  up  and  down, 
or  its  use  may  picture  frequent  passages  between  Mordecai's  place  of 
official  duty  and  his  post  of  anxiety.  But  what  reason  is  there  for 
supposing  that  any  man  might  not  walk  before  this  harem  entrance, 
and  seize  opportunities  to  communicate  with  attendants  on  their  exit 
or  entrance.  "  Mordecai's  fatherly  care  is  beautiful ;  equalled  only  by 
Esther's  filial  affection  and  obedience."  — J.  M.  G.  Indeed,  every  day 
hardly  does  justice  to  the  double  emphasis  of  the  original  in  its  ex- 
pression of  ]\b)rdocai's  intense  anxiety. 

12.  After  she  had  been  twelve  months,  or,  after  twelve  months  liad 
passed.  Myrrh  was  especially  valued  for  its  purifying  power  and 
fragrance  (Ps.  xlv.  8;  Prov.  vii.  17).  Under  spices  cosmetics  of  less 
note  are  comprehensively  included.     Ointments  (ver.  3,  9),  literally. 


Chap.  II.  13,  15.]  ESTHER.  43 

—  ^'Mii  tliis  luaimer  did  the  maiden  goto  tlie  king;  everytliing 
which  she  asked  was  given  lier  to  go  with  her  from  the  house 
of  the  women  to  the  house  of  the  king.  ^'^  At  evening  she 
went,  and  in  the  morning  she  returned  to  the  second  house  of 
the  women,  to  the  care  of  Shaashgaz,  the  king's  eunuch,  the 
keeper  of  the  concubines.  She  did  not  go  any  more  to  the 
king  unless  the  king  was  pleased  with  her  and  slie  was  called 
by  name. 

^'^  And  when  the  turn  of  Esther,  the  daughter  of  Abihail  the 
uncle  of  Mordecai,  whom  he  took  to  himself  for  a  daughter, 
came  to  go  to  the  king,  she  desired  nothing  but  that  whicli 
Hcgc,  the  king's  eunuch,  the  keeper  of  the  women,  appointed. 
And  Esther  was  receiving  favor  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  saw  her. 

Jurhishments,  which  were  rubbed  upon  the  person,  especially  after  the 
protracted  Orieutal  bath.  For  all  such  purpo.ses  the  service  of  the 
seven  selected  attendants  was  necessary.     • 

13.  On  this  occasion  the  maiden  was  permitted,  for  at  least  once  in 
her  life,  to  ixvvsLy  herself  in  the  most  costly  attire  and  ornaments  which 
the  king's  treasuries  contained.  The  love  of  display  might  indulge 
itself  to  the  full ;  and  the  differences  of  taste,  ambition,  and  character 
must  have  been  singularly  manifest.  Concerning  the  two  Ivouses  here 
mentioned,  sec  ver.  14  below.  It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  the 
maiden  might  haveybr  her  own  all  the  wealth  in  which  she  could  array 
herself.  Even  Xerxes'  treasuries  would  soon  have  been  depleted  by 
such  license.  The  text  records  no  move  than  that  she  was  jiermitted 
to  array  herself  for  this  occasion  in  everything  which  she  asked. 

14.  There  were  two,  and  probably  three,  "  houses  "  or  departments 
in  Xerxes' gynecaeum :  (1)  the  house  of  the  virgins  ;  (2)  the  second 
house,  or  that  of  the  concubines;  and  probably  (3)  a  house  for  the 
queen.  The  house  of  the  concubines  was  under  the  control  of 
Shaashgaz,  while  Ilege,  who  had  special  charge  of  the  first  house, 
seems  also  to  have  had  a  general  superinteiulcncy  of  the  wlidle  seraglio. 

15.  Daughter  of  Abihail  (see  ver.  7) ;  did  not  ask  for  anything,  etc. 
It  was  the  mark  of  unusual  wisdom  and  self-restraint,  if  not  of  even 
nobler  qualities,  that  Esther  in  this  supreme  hour  manifested  no  self- 
will  concerning  her  adornments,  but  left  it  to  those  whose  judgment 
was  better  than  her  own.  Can  we  suppose  that  she  was  one  of  tlioso 
too  rare  women  who  are  not  wholly  slaves  to  the  love  of  display  and 


44  ESTHER.  [Chap.  II.  16-18. 

^''And  Esther  was  taken  to  tlie  king  Xerxes,  to  the  royal 
house,  in  the  tenth  month,  that  is,  the  month  Tebeth,  in  the 
seventh  year  of  his  reign,  i"  And  the  king  loved  Esther  more 
than  all  the  women.  And  she  received  favor  and  kindness 
from  him  above  all  the,  virgins.  And  he  placed  the  royal 
crown  upon  her  head,  and  made  her  queen  instead  of  Vasliti. 
^^  And  the  king  prepared  a  great  banquet  for  all  his  princes 


to  greed  for  dress  and  jewehy  ?  The  tempter  still  leads  our  sisters 
astray.  For  even  a  heathen  and  a  sensualist  perceives  the  superior 
value  of  a  woman  who  is  modest  and  who  respects  herself  too  highly 
—  lives  too  far  above  such  things  —  to  suppose  that  men's  jireferences 
are  always  determined  by  outward  adorning.  If  it  may  be  received,  a 
little  of  the  wisdom  of  1  Pet.  iii.  3,  4  might  be  profitable  for  "  the  life 
which  now  is,"  of  which  we  have  illustration-  in  the  narrative  before 
us;  was  receiving  favor  probably  refers  to  the  judgment  of  those  who 
saw  her  arrayed  for  the  king's  presence. 

16.  Tebeth,  which  does  not  elsewhere  occur  in  the  Bible,  much 
resembles  the  tenth  Egyptian  month  Tabi  or  Tuhi,  and  nearly  syn- 
chronizes with  our  January;  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign — the 
six  months'  feast,  at  the  close  of  which  Vashti  was  disgraced,  began  in 
Xerxes'  third  year,  B.C.  483.  In  481  he  departed  from  Sardis  on 
his  Grecian  expedition.  During  the  interval  thus  indicated  the  maidens 
were  gathered,  and  the  plan  recorded  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter 
had  its  inception.  Returning  from  his  disastrous  defeat,  Xerxes  spent 
the  summer  of  479  at  Sardis  (Amer.  Cyclop.,  sub  Xerxes).  It  could 
hardly  have  been  earlier  than  the  end  of  that  year  that  Esdier  was 
taken  to  the  royal  house. 

17.  Loved  Esther  more  than  all  of  course  means,  more  than  he 
loved  any  other  one  of  the  women.  Concerning  the  crown  he  placed 
upon  her  head,  see  i.  11. 

18.  Esther's  banquet  was  a  memorable  one.  Perhaps  the  words 
denote  the  annual  celebration,  under  tliis  name,  of  the  queen's  corona- 
tion. Rest  is  the  exact  translation.  Many  think  it  means  not  merely 
or  chiefly  a  holiday,  but  a  temporary  release  from  taxation,  and  per- 
haps to  some  extent  from  military  conscripdon  or  service.  Such  a 
"  rest "  would  be  exceedingly  opportune  when  the  resources  of  the 
empire  had  been  exhausted  by  the  Grecian  expedition,  and  the  loyalty 
of  the  peo{)le  might  be  somewhat  strained  by  the  disastrous  result. 


Chap.  II.  19.]  ESTllKR.  45 

and  liis  servants, —  Estlicr's  hanqnct.  And  lie  <rrantcd  a  rest 
to  tlie  provinces,  and  crave  sfifLs  accordintr  to  tlie  liand  of  the 
king. 

^^  And  wlien  virgins  were  gathered  the  second   time,  then 

Herodotus  (ill.  137)  ascribes  such  a  release  to  Pseudo-Sinerdis.  Robes 
of  honor  were  common  royal  gifts  (Cyropaedia  viii.  3  ;  Anab.  i.  9, 
§  22) ;  according  to  the  hand  of  the  king  —  see  i.  7. 

19.  Another  scene  now  comes  l)efore  us.  Its  date  is  fixed  by  the 
words,  and  when  virgins  were  gathered  the  second  time  —  an  event 
doubtless  well  remembered  by  the  early  readers  of  Esther.  Or  there 
may  be  reference  to  the  fact  that  "  requisitions  for  virgins  were  often 
made  to  supjjly  the  harem  of  the  king.  The  heart  sickens  at  the  thought ;. 
the  whole  nature  revolts  at  the  idea.  Yet  this  is  the  world  without  the 
gospel ;  this  is  man  when  he  can  follow  his  inclinations."  — J.  M.  G.- 
Sat  in  the  gate  of  the  king  —  had  some  olRcial  position  there,  evidendy 
humble ;  hence  Mordecai  might  more  readily  overhear  the  plot,  but 
would  j^refer  to  certify  the  king  through  Esther.  In  his  official  ca- 
pacity there  would  be  addidonal  indignity  in  his  failing  to  bow  before 
Haman  (iii.  2  ;  Pulpit  Com.,  v.  20).  The  expression  gate  of  the  king 
—  "^sn  "ir'O  —  occurs  eleven  times  in  this  book,  sometimes  in  its  pri- 
mary signification,  at  other  times  apparendy  meaning  the  court  which 
met  there,  and  which  was  designated  by  its  place  of  sitting.  The  gate 
of  an  Oriental  palace  is  not  a  mere  entrance,  but  is  ordinarily  flanked 
at  least  by  recesses  for  guards,  sometimes  by  towers  containing  rooms 
below  and  overhead.  It  was  often  a  place  for  holding  courts,  and  even 
for  royal  audience.  Hence  S&blime  Porte  (gate)  which  originally 
meant  the  chief  entrance  of  the  Sultan's  palace,  has  conie  to  denote 
the  government  of  the  Turkish  empire.  In  modern  Persia  Dcr-i-Lhanah 
(gate  of  the  palace)  is  the  name  of  the  hall  of  supreme  justice  and  royid. 
audience  (Ker  Porter's  Travels.  Vol.  ii.  p.  l')0  ;  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  sub 
Palace).  To  sit  in  the  gate  of  the  kiiiff  may  be  a  circumlocution  for  served 
in  the  royal  presence.  Thus,  although  Daniel  was  one  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's highest  officers,  the  expression  is  used  of  him.  (Dan.  ii.  49. 
ynn,  here  employed,  is  a  Chaldee  form  for  -rd.  Sec  No.  1  under 
latter,  in  Gesenius'  Lex.)  The  LXX  has  aiX-q  for  gate  in  all  these 
cases,  except  in  Estli.  iv.  2,  where  it  has  ttl'At;,  and  where  there  is 
doubtless  reference  to  the  propylon.  In  Cyrop.  1,  3,  2;  8,  3,  2.  and 
11;  8,  G,  7  al  Ovpai  is  used  for  the  Persian  court.  But  that  "the 
king's  gate"  means  more  than  the  royal  presence  sometimes;,  if  not 


46  ESTHER.  [Chap.  II.  20-22. 

Mordecai  was  sitting  in  tlie  king's  gate.  ^^  Esther  liad  not 
declared  her  lineage  and  her  people,  as  Mordecai  commanded 
her ;  for  Esther  was  doing  the  bidding  of  Mordecai  as  when 
she  was  in  tutelage  under  him. 

21  During  those  days  while  Mordecai  was  sitting  in  the  king's 
gate,  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  two  of  the  king's  eunuchs,  of  the 
keejjcrs  of  the  entrance,  became  enraged,  and  sought  to  lay- 
hands  upon  the  king  Xerxes  ^"^  And  the  matter  was  known 
to  Mordecai,  a,nd  he  disclosed  it  to  Esther  the  queen.     And 

always,  in  Esther,  appears  from  vi.  10,  1 2,  and  probably  from  v.  9,  and 
most  cases  of  its  use.  Here  it  seems  to  refer  literally  to  a  propylon, 
like  one  of  those  whose  remains  exist  at  Persepolis  —  a  small  hall,  the 
roof  or  entablature  of  which  was  supported  by  four  columns.  Possibly 
the  propylon  of  the  great  hall,  probably  fronting  that  structure  and 
located  near  the  present  edge  of  the  north  mound,  was  this  "  gate  "  (see 
plan  of  that  mound  and  Excursus  upon  the  Topography). 

20.  The  record  of  ver.  10  still  remains  true,  and  is  repeated  to 
account  for  the  official  insignificance  of  Mordecai.  That  queen  Esther 
should  yet  do  the  bidding  of  her  humble  guardian,  as  when  she  was 
in  tutelage  under  him,  shows  that  she  was  a  remarkable  character. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  LXX  officiously  inserts  the  name  of  God. 

21.  Bigthan  may  have  been  the  Bigtha  of  i.  10,  and  is  called  Big- 
thana  in  vi.  2.  On  the  variation  of  names,  see  ver.  8  above.  Teresh 
is  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  BG  is  literally  the  threshold,  as  appears 
in  Judg.  xix.  27.  It  seems  probable  that  these  men  kept  the  very 
entrance  to  the  king's  own  apartments,  and  hence,  being  provoked  by 
some  matter  to  us  unknown  (though  the  LXX  professes  to  give  the 
cause),  they  could  hope  to  destroy  him  without  much  difficulty. 
Xerxes  was  finally  slain  by  domestic  conspiracy,  as  was  also  Artaxcrxes 
Ochus  at  a  later  day. 

22.  Josephus  gives  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  Mordecai 
learned  of  the  plot  (Ant.  xi.  6,  §  4)  ;  but  we  find  here  no  confirma- 
tion of  his  story;  in  the  name  of  Mordecai  —  but  not  reveabng  liis 
relation  to  her  (viii.  1).  His  self-restraint,  if  not  his  unselfishness, 
was  probably  the  key  to  Mordecai's  subsequent  elevation.  Had  be 
sooner  made  it  known  that  Esther  was  his  adopted  daughter,  it  is 
likely  he  would  have  failed  to  learn  of  this  plot,  and  thus  to  save  the 
king's  life.     There  is  no  evidence  here,  and  it  is  improbable  according 


CiiAP.  II.  23-in.  1.1  KSTHKR.  47 

Esther  told  it  to  tlic  kiii^^  in  the  name  of  Mordccai.  23  ^^nd 
the  matter  was  exaniined  and  found  out,  and  both  of  them 
were  impaled  on  a  tree.  It  wa.s  also  written  in  the  hook  of 
the  daily  affairs  before  the  kinj;. 

111.  ^  After  these  thinj^s  the  kintr  Xerxes  mairnified  Ilaman, 
the  son  of  ITammedatha,  the  Afrafjite,  and  promoted  him,  and 

to  Oriental  custums,  that  Monlecai  had  a  personal  interview  with  the 
queen  (ver.  7). 

23.  nbn,  which  is  rendered  hang  in  the  A.V.  as  a  rule,  really  means 
to  impale.  The  victim,  usually  being  first  put  to  death,  was  hung  aloft 
upon  the  point  of  a  stake  or  pole,  S5  (lit.  tree,  hence  timber,  post,  etc.). 
Doubtless  the  common  method  was  that  represented  in  Nineveh  and 
its  Keniains  (Vol.  ii.  p.  3G9  ;  see  also  p.  374),  in  which  the  point  of 
the  pale  entered  the  chest  below  the  breast-bone.  Besides  references 
in  Esther  and  Ezra  to  the  Persian  custom,  there  are  allusions  to  im- 
palement among  the  Egyptians  and  Jews  in  Gen.  xl.  19,  22;  Deut, 
xxi.  22,  etc.  (For  the  whole  literature  of  the  subject,  see  Excursus 
upon  Early  ^Nlodes  of  Execution.)  In  the  book  of  the  daily  affairs 
—  such  journals  were  kept  before  the  Jewish  monarchs  also,  and  our 
scriptural  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  are  probably  based  upon 
these  records.  The  Hebrew  name  of  ''  chronicles  "  is  exactly  the  ex- 
pression here,  C^^n  i^nn  ;  before  the  king  —  either  because  preserved 
in  his  presence,  or,  more  probably,  written  under  his  inspection,  that 
they  might  be  accurate  and  complete.  Herodotus  tells  us  (viil.  §  5) 
that  the  Persians  inserted  in  these  records  the  names  of  those  who 
should  be  honored. 

Cn.vr.  III.  1.  Magnified  —  Wter-My,  f/reatenrd.  This  greatness  was 
not  the  result  of  the  development  of  pure  and  noble  principles  from 
within,  but  it  was  applied  to  Ilaman  from  without ;  it  was  wholly  external. 
Manifestly  such  factitious  and  superficial  greatness  was  but  a  poor  sul> 
stitute  for  the  genuine.  A  base  and  brutal  soul  like  Ilaman's  can  he 
ennobled  by  no  such  process.  Read  in  the  light  of  the. subsequent 
narrative,  and  taking  into  account  the  chnrncters  of  the  two  men,  the 
statement  that  Xerxes  "  greatened  "  Human  has  the  sound  of  bitter  irony. 
Haman  —  suppo.sed  to  mean  celebrated,  or  else  to  be  equivalent  to 
Mercury.  Hammedatha  —  Gesenius  takes  the  first  syllable  of  this 
name  to  Ix.'  the  Ilelirew  article.  Fucrst  thinks  the  name  denotes 
given  l»j  Haomo  —  a  Persian  Ized  or  angel  (Rawlinsoii,  Ane.  Mon.,  ii. 


48  ESTHER.  {Chap.  III.  2, 3. 

set  his  seat  above  all  the  princes  who  were  with  him.  2  ^jj(j  ^U 
the  servants  of  the  king  who  were  in  the  king's  gate  were  bow- 
ing and  prostrating  themselves  before  Haraan  ;  for  so  had  the 
king  commanded  concerning  him — but  Mordecai  neither  bowed 
nor  prostrated  himself.   ' 

^  And  the  servants  of  the  king  who  were  in  the  king's  gate 

324).  The  Agagite  —  the  Septuagint  has  Bovyalo<:,  the  Bugaean. 
According  to  Ewald,  in  sonde  MSS.  of  the  Septuagint  the  name  appeared 
as  Fwyaios.  The  Targum  asserts,  and  Josephus  seems  to  imply,  that 
Haman,  being  a  descendant  of  Agag  (1  Sam.  xv.  8),  was  an  Amalekite. 
This  is  possible,  yet  somewhat  doubtful.  Ewald  maintains  that  there 
is  no  proof  that  the  author  had  any  such  derivation  in  mind.  Still, 
the  opinion  of  Josephus  and  the  Targumists  is  entitled  to  some  con- 
sideration. No  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  terms  "  Bngaean  '*  and 
"  Agagite  "  has  been  discovered. 

2.  Bowing  and  prostrating  —  the  verb  S5"3  means  to  how  or  to 
kneel,  and  TWvd  to  fall  prostrate.  This  was  the  Oriental  method  of 
doing  honor  to  a  superior.  But  among  the  Persians  —  since  the 
monarch  was  regarded  as  the  incarnation  of  Ahura-Mazda,  and  there- 
fore entitled  to  divine  honors  — the  act  of  prostration  before  him  was 
understood  to  imply  worship  or  religious  homage.  Herodotus  men- 
tions certain  Greeks  who,  on  being  introduced  into  the  royal  presence 
at  Susa,  and  being  pressed  to  prostrate  themselves  before  the  king,  re- 
fused, alleging  that  "  it  was  not  their  custom  to  worship  a  man,  nor  had 
they  come  for  that  purpose"  (vii.  136).  Plutarch  relates  that  similar 
homage  was  required  of  Themistocles  when  he  presented  himself 
before  the  Persian  king.  And  Curtius  (Alexander  the  Great,  viii.  11) 
says :  "  The  Persians,  indeed,  not  only  from  motives  of  piety,  but 
also  from  prudence,  worship  their  kings  among  the  gods."  So  that 
homage  i>aid  to  Haraan  as  the  king's  representative  would  be  an  indi- 
rect method  of  rendering  divine  honors  to  a  human  Ixjing.  The  king 
commanded  —  perhaps,  as  suggested  elsewhere,  Haman's  notorious 
character  or  base  origin  may,  in  the  judgment  of  the  king,  have  ren- 
dered such  a  special  command  necessary.  Otherwise  the  populace 
might  have  failed  to  pay  homage  to  the  new  favorite.  The  Septuagint 
renders  the  last  clause  of  the  verse  :  "  But  Mardochaeus  did  not  worship 
(7rpo(TCKvv€t)  him." 

3.  Transgress  —  the  Hebrew  word  lay  properly  denotes  to  pass 
over  or  beyond,  and  hence  corresponds   precisely  to  the  Latin  trans- 


Chap.  III.  4-6.]  ESTIIEK.  49 

said  to  Mordccai :  Why  dost  thou  transgress  the  king's  cuiu- 
mand?  ^  And  it  canic  to  pass  when  they  said  this,  to  hiiu 
day  after  day  and  he  did  not  listen  to  them,  that  they  made  it 
known  to  Hamaii  to  see  whether  the  words  of  Mordecai  would 
stand  ;  for  he  had  told  them  that  he  was  a  Jew. 

^  And  Ilamaii  saw  that  Mordecai  did  not  bow  and  jji-osti-ate 
liimself  before  him  ;  and  Ilaman  was  fdled  with  wrath.  *'Now 
it  was  dos])icable  in  his  -eyes  to  lay  hands  on  Mordecai  alone  ; 
for  they  had  made  known  to  him  the  people  of  Mordecai. 
And  Haman  sought  to  destroy  all  the  Jews,  the  people  of  Mor- 

gredior,  and  our  word  "transgress."  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  this 
verb  '•^ZT,  in  giving  rise  to  the  name  ''  Hebrew,"  has  impressed  itself 
upon  the  people  of  Israel  In  Geu.  xiv.  13  Abrara  is  for  the  first  time 
designates!  as  the  "Hebrew,"  —  ''■^,  literally,  the  Over-man,  tliat  is 
"  the  man  who  came  over  "  [the  river]  ;  Septuagint  Trepar?;?,  the  immi- 
grant (see  Geseniusand  Fuerst).  Hence  the  name  "  Hebrew"  always 
pointed  back  to  the  fact  tliat  the  ancestors  of  that  people  had  come  from 
beyond  the  Euphrates. 

4.  Words  of  Mordecai  —  to  see  whetli^r  his  plea,  or  excuse, — 
Jewish  nationaUty,  —  would  be  accepted  as  valid.  Certain  Greeks 
were  excused  by  the  same  king  Xerxes,  on  somewhat  similar  grounds, 
from  prostrating  themselves  before  him  (Herodotus,  vii.  13G)  ;  that  he 
was  a  Jew  —  being  such,  he  was  precluded  by  the  law  of  Moses  from 
paying  divine  honors  to  a  human  being,  Josephus  evidently  takes  this 
view;  for  he  puts  into  the'hiouth  of  Mordecai  this  prayer  :  "  I  did  not 
worsliip  iiim,  nor  could  I  endure  to  pay  that  lionor  to  him  which  I  -used 
to  pay  to  thee,  O  Lord."  •  Besides,  if  Ilaman  were. known  to  be  of  the 
acccursed  race  of  Amalek  (Deut.  xxv.  17-19),  that  fact  would,  if  pos- 
sible, increase  Mordecai's  repugnance  to  the  thoujflit  of  paying  him 
undue  honors  (see  Discourses  on  the  Bock  of  Esther,  by  the  Hebrew 
Club;  "Mordecai"). 

6,  Despicable  in  his  eyes  —  he  felt  tliat  the  affront  would  not  be 
sufficiently  cxpuited  by  tlie  slaughter  of  the  offender  alone.  An  insult 
offered  to  the  grand  vizier  of  the  empire  demanded  tlie  sacrifice  of  the 
entire  race  to  which  the  culprit  l)elonged.  Nothing  less  would  sate 
Ilaman's  vengeance,  or  soothe  liis  woundiMl  pride-  Tlie  vengeance 
and  tlie  pride  were  alike  vast  and  clamorous  in  their  demands.  A  .lew 
had  offerefl  tlie  iusult,  and  the  JeHi.sh  nation  jnust  jiaj'  the  j>en;iJty. 
7 


50  ESTHER.  [Chap.  III.  7,  8. 

decai,  that  were  in  all  the  kingdom  of  Xerxes.  "In  the  first 
month,  the  montli  Nisan,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  king  Xerxes 
they  cast  Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  before  Ilaman  from  day  to  day, 
and  from  month  to  month,  to  the  twelfth  month,  that  is,  the 
month  Adar. 

8 And  Haman  said  to  the  king  Xerxes:  There  is  a  certain 

7.  The  month.  Nisan  —  this,  accordiug  to  the  Babyloniau  method 
of  reckouing,  was  the  first  month  of  the  year.  The  former  Hebrew 
name  was  Abib.  It  corresponded  to  the  latter  part  of  March  and 
the  early  part  of  April,  according  to  the  most  probable  reckoning; 
they  cast  —  rather,  "  one  cast "  ;  the  verb  is  impersonal.  Very  likely, 
as  Keil  suggests,  the  casting  was  performed  in  Haman's  presence  by 
some  magician  or  astrologer  who  was  skilled  in  such  matters ;  Pur, 
that  is,  the  lot  —  "Pur"  is  not  properly  a  Hebrew,  but  a  Persian, 
word ;  it  corresponds  to  the  Persian  pare,  and  to  the  Latin  pars,  and 
dienoies  part,  lot,  fate.  The  precise  mode  of  "casting  the  lot"  is  not 
known.  Have  we  a  possible  hint  in  Prov.  xvi.  33  ?  Among  the 
ancients  great  attention  was  paid  to  lucky  and  unlucky  days.  No 
enterprise  of  importance  was  undertaken  until  a  propitious  day  had 
been  fixed  upon.  This  was  determined  by  various  methods  —  by 
astrology,  by  inspecting  the  entrails  of  sacrificial  victims,  by  watching 
the  flight  of  birds,  by  casting  the  lot,  and  the  like.  In  the  present 
instance,  Haman's  first  care  was  to  select  a  propitious  day  for  the  con- 
templated massacre.  He  seems  to  have  first  fixed  upon  the  day  of  the 
month,  namely,  the  thirteenth  day.  He  then  proceeded  to  determine 
the  month  itself,  which  turned  out  to  be  Adar,  the  last  month  of  the 
year.  He  cast  lots  "  from  day  to  day,  and  from  month  to  month  "  ; 
that  is,  he  tested  the  days  of  the  month  in  succession  —  the  first,  the 
second,  the  third,  and  so  on  —  until  he  hit  upon  the  lucky  day ;  and 
so  in  regard  to  the  month.  By  a  comparison  of  dates  we  find  that  he 
had  an  interval  of  some  eleven  mouths  previous  to  the  day  of  massacre 
in  which  to  prepare  for  the  execution  of  his  l)loody  purjx)se.  We 
cannot  suppose  that  so  long  a  delay  was  agreeable  to  his  vengeful 
disposition  ;  but  his  superstitious  mind  did  not  venture  to  strike  the 
blow  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  day  supposed  to  have  been  desig- 
nated by  the  gods  which  he  worshipped.  That  the  divine  hand, 
unknown  to  Haman,  guided  the  lot,  and  arranged  for  the  long  interval 
in  which  the  deliverance  of  the  Jews  might  be  wrought  out,  is  certain. 

B.  Dispersed  and  separate  —  t!ie  first  word  relates  to  their  disper- 


CnAP.  III.  9.)  ESTIIi: R.  51 

people  disiiorsfd  and  sepai-ate  ainoii^  the  peoples,  in  all  Iho 
proviiiees  of  thy  kinirdom,  and  their  laws  are  differeiit  from 
every  people's,  and  the  king's  laws  they  do  not  kecj) ;  therefore 
it  is  not  fittintr  for  the  king  to  tolerate  them.  ^  If  it  seem 
good  to  the  king,  let  it  be  decreed  to  destroy  them;  and  ten 
thonsand  talents  of  silver  will  I  weigh  into  the  liands  of  those 
who  manage  the  business,  that  they  may  put  it  into  the  king's 
treasni-ies. 

sion  tlirougliout  the  empire ;  the  second  describes  their  isolated  con- 
dition in  that  dispersion.  They  were  not  only  scattered  broadcast ; 
but  tliey  remained  separate  and  distinct,  not  mingling  with  the  other 
subjects  of  the  king ;  the  king's  laws  they  do  not  keep  —  this  cliarge 
in  the  general  sense  was  false.  Tlie  Jews  were,  as  a  rule,  lo}al  and 
peaceable  subjects.  The  very  spirit  and  genius  of  their  law  would  lead 
them  to  obey  rulers  and  all  in  authority  ;  it  is  not  fitting —  tliere  may 
be  some  question  wlieiber  the  Hebrew  word  used  here  denotes  moral 
titness.  The  A.V.  implies  the  negative ;  but  the  best  modern  author- 
ities seem  to  favor  the  atfirmaUve.  Still,  it  is  doubtful  whether  moral 
considerations  would  have  much  weight  with  either  Xerxes  or  Ilaman. 
9.  If  it  seem  good  to  the  king  —  the  Hebrew  word  ris,  good,  is 
employed  with  great  latitude  and  variety  of  meaning,  as  including 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  good  ;  decreed,  literally,  written.  It  seems 
that  royal  decrees  were  written  or  recorded,  so  that  they  might  not  be 
misunderstood  or  tampered  with  ;  ten  thousand  talents  —  this  sum  is 
variously  estimated  at  from  £l,87o,U0U  to  £o,7c)0,()U0.  sterling ;  Pal- 
frey says  from  ten  millions  to  more  than  twenty  millions  of  dollars 
(Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Scriptures  and  Antiquities,  iv.  171).  In 
proof  of  the  wealth  of  some  Persian  subjects,  Herodotus  (vii.  2S) 
mentions  one  Pythius,  who  offered  to  give  the  same  Xerxes  four  mil- 
lions of  gold  darics.  Haman  might  have  possessed  even  greater 
resources.  "iS3,  rendered  "  talent,"  denotes  primarily  a  circle  or  some- 
thing round,  then  a  mass  of  metal  melted  in  a  round  form.  This 
money  may  have  been  uncoined  silver,  passing  by  weight  instead  of 
by  stamp.  Yet  it  is  well  known  that  gold  coins  calleil  "darics"  were 
in  use  in  the  Persian  enipin.'  previous  to  the  time  of  Xerxes  (Ezra 
ii.  C9;  Neh.  vii.  71,  72)  :  I  will  weigh  —  literally,  J  will  shekel — the 
noun  shekel  coming  from  the  same  root  as  the  verb  here  used.  This 
looks  as  if  the  money  was  uncoined,  and  was  to  be  weighed  out  or 
paid  by  weight.      Ibit  the  verb  may  have  lost,  to  some  extent,  its  pri- 


52  .  ESTHER.  IChap.  III.  10-12. 

^"Tlieii  the  king  removed  his  signet-ring  from  his  hand  and 
gave  it  to  Ilaman,  tlie  son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  the 
adversary  of  the  Jews.  ^^  And  the  king  said  to  Haman  :  The 
silver  is  given  to  thee,  and  the  people,  to  do  with  them  as  is 
pleasing  in  thine  eyes. 

^'^  And  the  scribes  of  the  king  were  called,  in  the  first  month, 
on  the  thirteenth  day  of  it,  and  it  was  written  according  to  all 

mary  signification  ;  manage  the  business,  literally,  doers  of  the  busi- 
ness, that  is,  probably,  those  who  receive  and  disburse  the  king's  funds 
—  the  royal  financiers  or  treasurers. 

10.  Eemoved  Ms  sig^et-rinfj  —  that  is,  the  ring  containing,  the  royal 
seal,  which  gave  binding  force  to  any  document  to  which  it  was  affixed. 
Some  have  supposed  that,  instead  of  being  a  ring,  the  signet  was  really 
a  cylinder  such  as  some  of  the  Persian  monarchs  used.  According  to 
Rawlinson,  the  signet-cylinder  of  Darius  is  still  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum.  In  the  case  before  us,  however,  the  Hebrew  word  seems 
clearly  to  indicate  a  ring  (see  Excursus  on  Signet-rings  and  Seals). 
The  royal  signet  was  usually  worn  by  the  king's  prime  minister. 
When  Raman  was  raised  to  that  position,  the  ring  was  committed  to 
him.  So  in  the  case  of  Mordecai  (viii.  2)  ;  adversary  —  the  Hebrew 
word  implies  more  than  a  mere  feeling  of  enmity ;  it  denotes  one  who 
is  actively  and  effectively  hostile  —  a  persecutor  —  one  who  causes 
distress  and  straitness. 

11.  Tlie  silver  is  given  to  thee —  this  may  have  been  merely  an 
Oriental  way  of  seeming  to  refuse,  while  actually  accepting,  the  bribe 
offered  by  Haman.  As  this  occurred  subsequently  to  Xerxes'  disas- 
trous expedition  against  the  Greeks,  his  treasury  must  have  been  in 
a  very  depleted  condition,  and  the  offer  of  such  an  immense  sura  of 
money  would  be  peculiarly  tempting.  More  probably  the  meaning  is : 
The  silver  of  the  Jews  —  their  property  —  and  the  people  themselves 
are  given  to  thee.  If  so,  the  king  simply  announced  the  conliscatiou 
of  the  Jews'  property,  and  its  assignment  to  Ilaman.  "We  are  told 
that  in  the  East  the  goods  of  those  who  are  put  to  death  escheat  to 
the  ruler,  who  either  seizes  them  for  his  own  use  or  else  makes  a  grant 
of  them  to  some  favorite. 

12.  The  scribes  of  the  king  —  these  persons  were  generally  in 
:readiness  at  the  court  to  draw  up  edicts  and  to  do  any  other  writing 
•whicli  the  king  might  require;  satraps  —  Hebrew  Q-'rQ-'.'ncnx,  cor- 
responding to  the  Persian   Ichshatrapa,  or  the  Greek  o-arpaTn/s.     The 


CiiAv.  III.  13.]  ESTHER.  53 

lliat  Ilamau  commanded,  to  tlic  satraps  of  the  king,  and  to  the 
pashas  who  were  in  all  tlie  provinces,  and  to  tlie  princes  of 
the  people  of  each  province  according  to  its  writing,  and  to 
every  people  according  to  its  tongue.  In  the  name  of  the  king 
Xerxes  was  it  written,  and  it  was  sealed  with  the  king's  signet- 
ring.  '^^  And  letters  were  sent  by  the  hand  of  couriers  into 
every  province  of  the  king : 

satrap,  or  supreme  civil  governor  of  each  department,  was  '•  charged 
with  the  collection  and  transmission  of  the  revenue,  the  administration 
of  justice,  the  maintenance  of  order,  and  the  general  supervision  of  the 
territory."  Each  satrap  was  appointed  hy  the  king,  and  removable  at 
pleasure,  but  while  in  office  was  despotic,  as  being  the  representative  of 
the  Great  King.  (See  Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon.,  iii.  418.)  In  the  time  of 
Darius  the  Mede,  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  these  officials 
(Dan.  vi.  2,  in  Hebrew  text).  According  to  Herodotus  (iii.  89),  Darius 
Hystaspis  constituted  twenty  governments,  which  were  known  as  "satra- 
pies." This  number  seems  to  have  varied,  at  different  times,  from 
twenty  to  twenty-nine.  (Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon.,  iii.  418,  Note.)  How 
is  this  apparent  discrepancy  to  be  resolved  ?  According  to  Herodotus, 
the  division  of  the  empire  into  twenty  departments  was  made  for  the 
express  purpose  of  taxation,  the  raising  of  a  revenue.  In  this  division, 
proximity  and  similarity  of  language  seem  to  have  been  disregarded  ; 
nations  were  grouped  so  that  the  money  could  be  extorted  most  readily. 
In  the  division  mentioned  in  Esther  i.  1,  the  various  nations  are  dis- 
tributed according  to  geograjihical  and  ethnological  lines,  "  according  to 
the  races  inhabithjg  the  different  provinces  "  (Keil).  This  hypothesis 
obviates  the  difficulty  ;  pashas  —  Hebrew,  pins  ;  Sanscrit,  pahsha  : 
Assyrian,  palha.  These  were  inferior  officials  ruling  the  subdivisions 
of  the  provinces.  (See  on  viii.  9)  ;  princes  —  the  native  princes,  or 
head  men  among  the  conquered  races,  who  were  allowed  some  share 
in  the  government.  (See  as  above.)  In  the  name  cf  the  kinj  —  every 
edict,  in  order  to  be  binding,  must  be  issued  in  the  king's  name,  and 
sealed  with  the  king's  seal  (Herodotus  iii.  128). 

13.  The  Persian  system  of  conveying  letters  and  other  messages  by 
means  of  relays  of  fresh  horses  kept  in  readiness  at  suitable  distances 
along  the  route,  is  fully  described  in  Xenophon's  Cyrppaedia,  viii.  G, 
sec.  17,  and  Herodotus  viii.  98.  (See  also  Excursus  D. :  The  Letters 
and  Posts  of  the  Ancients.)  The  latter  jiart  of  this  verse,  printed  in 
small  capitals,  seems  to  be  a  verbatim  quotation  from  the  king's  decree 


54  ESTHER.  [Chap.  III.  U,  15. 

To  DESTROY,  TO  KILL,  AND  TO  CAUSE  TO  PERISH  ALL  THE  JeWS, 
BOTH  YOUNG  AND  OLD,  LITTLE  CHILDREN  AND  WOMEN,  IN  ONE  DAY, 
ON  THE  THIRTEENTH  OP  THE  TWELFTH  MONTH,  THAT  IS,  THE  MONTH 
ADAR  ;   AND  [taKE]  THEIR  PROPERTY  FOR  SPOIL. 

^*  4  CO/?//  of  the  writing  to  be  given  as  a  decree  in  every 
province,  published  to  all  the  peoples,  that  they  should  be  ready 
for  that  day. 

1^  The  couriers  went  forth,  pressed  on  by  the  command  of 
the  king ;  and  the  decree  was  given  in  Shushan  the  castle. 
And  the  king  and  Haman  sat  down  to  drink ;  but  the  city 
Shushan  was  perplexed. 

of  extermination.  From  Herodotus  (iii.  119),  and  other  authorities, 
we  gather  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Persians  and  other  ancient 
nations  to  put  to  death  not  only  criminals  themselves,  hut  also  their 
wives  and  children  with  them.  Their  property  for  spoil  —  Ewald 
(Hist,  of  Israel,  Vol.  v.  233,  Note  5)  calls  attention  to  the  "noble  con- 
trast "  between  the  purposed  rapacity  of  Haman  and  the  forbearance 
of  the  Jews  (see  chap.  ix.  10,  15,  16)  ;  and  is  forcibly  reminded  of  the 
inscription,  "  Property  is  sacred,"  on  the  shops  of  the  Paris,  Berlin, 
and  Frankfort  revolutionists. 

14.  This  verse  we  take  to  be  the  certification  of  the  scribe  to  the 
authenticity  and  correctness  of  the  foregoing  excerpt  from  the  royal 
decree.  It  seems  equivalent  to  the  expression  :  "A  true  copy  —  Attest," 
which  we  see  appended  to  modern  documents.  See  a  somewhat  similar 
attestation  in  Ezra  iv.  11  ;  vii.  11. 

15.  Pressed  on  by  the  command  —  why  such  haste,  since  some  ten 
or  eleven  months  must  elapse  after  the  decree  had  been  promulgated 
in  the  remotest  provinces  before  it  would  be  put  in  execution  ?  Some 
suppose  that  Haman  and  the  king  wished  to  give  the  Jews  opportunity 
to  escape.  This,  however,  seems  improbable.  Others  think  that  Haman 
feared  lest,  in  case  of  delay,  the  king  might  waver  or  change  his  mind. 
Or  that  the  king  wished  to  get  the  matter  irrevocably  settled  and  off 
his  hands,  so  as  to  think  no  more  about  it.  The  king  and  Haman  sat 
down  to  drink  —  what  stolid,  heartless  brutality  have  we  here !  After 
having  condemned  an  innocent  people  to  die,  the  king  and  Haman 
betake  themselves  to  the  wine-cup,  and  to  their  drunken  orgies.  We 
are  reminded  of  Vvhat  Suetonius  relates  of  Nero,  that  clad  in  theatrical 
garb,  and  looking  forth  from  the  tower  of  Maecenas  upon  the  burning 


Chap.  IV.  1-3.]  ESTHER.  55 

IV.  iWhcu  Mordccai  knew  all  that  was  done,  Mordecai  rent 
his  clothes,  and  put  on  sackcloth  and  ashes,  and  went  forth  into 
the  midst  of  the  city  and  cried  out  with  a  great  and  bitter  cry. 
-And  he  came  even  before  the  king's  gate;  for  it  was  not 
allowed  to  enter  the  king's  gate  in  clothing  of  sackcloth.  ^  And 
in  every  province,  wherever  the  word  of  the  king  and  his 
decree  came,  there  was  great  lamentation  among  the  Jews,  and 
fasting,  and  weeping,  and  wailing ;  and  sackctoth  and  ashes 
were  made  the  bed  of  many. 

Rome  kindled  by  his  own  hand,  being  pleased  with  the  beauty  of  the 
flame,  he  chanted  over  and  over  the  "  Fall  of  Troy."  Perplexed  —  the 
Jews  no  doubt  had  shown  themselves  a  quiet,  industrious,  well-disposed 
people.  They  had  gained  many  friends.  Besides,  the  extermination 
of  a  whole  people  by  such  arbitrary  slaughter  must  have  seemed,  as 
it  was  in  reality,  a  dangerous  precedent.  Who  could  tell  what  people 
or  race  would  next  fall  under  the  king's  ban  ?  No  wonder  that  the 
capital  was  "  perplexed."     And  how  terribly  laconic  tlie  latter  word ! 

Chap.  IV.  1.  Knew  —  A.  V.  perceived.  The  matter  may  have 
transpired  through  the  jjublication  of  the  edict ;  or  possibly  the  king's 
scribes  had  mentioned  it  to  other  officials  of  the  court,  and  so  it  had 
become  known  throughout  the  palace  before  the  edict  appeared.  Bent 
Ms  clothes ;  put  on  sackcloth  and  ashes  — each  act  expressive  of  grief, 
together  indicating  intense  anguish.  Went  forth  —  perhaps  from  his 
house.  Rawlinson  thinks  he  quitted  the  environs  of  the  palace,  and 
went  forth  into  the  city.  It  was  not  allowable  to  exhibit  signs  of 
mourning  within  the  palace.  Cried  out  —  WlevaWy,  crhd  a  cry  great 
and  hitter.  Orientals  are  much  more  demonstrative  in  expressing 
emotion  than  are  Occidentals.  The  former  smite  their  breasts,  tear 
their  hair  and  their  garments,  and  utter  loud  and  piercing  cries,  in  token 
of  grief.  (See  Discourses  on  the  Book  of  Esther,  by  the  Hebrew  Club: 
"  Moui-ning  andits  Expression.") 

2.  In  his  distress  and  alarm,  Mordecai  turned  his  steps  toward  the 
palace,  possibly  with  some  indefinite  purpose  of  seeking  audience  with 
the  king,  or  more  probably  with  the  hope  of  enlisting  Esther's  sym- 
pathy and  assistance.  His  somber  attire,  however,  debarred  him  from 
entering  the  king's  gate. 

3.  Were  made  the  bed  of  many  —  literally,  were  spread  as  a  bed 
for  many.     Many  persons  caused  ashes  to  be  strewed  upou  the  ground, 


56  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IV.  4-7. 

*  Then  the  maids  of  Esther  and  her  eunuchs  came  and  told 
her.  And  the  queen  was  exceedingly  grieved ;  and  she  sent 
garments  to  put  upon  Mordecai,  and  [bade]  to  remove  his  sack- 
cloth from  him.     But  he  did  not  receive  [them] . 

^  Then  Esther  called  foj*  Hatach,  from  among  the  eunuchs 
of  the  king,  whom  he  had  caused  to  stand  before  her,  and  gave 
him  a  commandment  to  Mordecai,  in  order  to  learn  what  this 
was,  and  wherefore  it  was.  ^  j^  nd  Hatach  went  forth  to  Mor- 
decai into  the  square  of  the  city,  which  is  before  the  king's 
gate.  "'  And  Mordecai  told  him  all  that  had  befallen  him,  and 
the  amount  of  silver  which  Haman  promised  to  weigh  into  the 
treasuries  of   the  king   on   account  of   the  Jews  —  for  their 

and  then  putting  on  the  coarse  hair-cloth  garment,  either  sat  or  lay  upon 
the  couch  of  ashes.  (Compare  Isa.  Iviii.  5).  .  As  the  sorrowful  news 
respecting  the  edict  spread  throughout  the  empire  many  of  the  Jews 
followed  the  example  of  Mordecai,  and  assumed  the  "garb  of  woe." 
So  terror  and  distress  pervaded  the  kingdom  wherever  Jews  were  found. 

4.  The  retinue  of  an  Oriental  ^queen  would  comprise  not  only  maid- 
servants, but  also  eunuchs  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  do  errands  and 
convey  messages  at  her  pleasure.  Though  these  attendants  might  not 
be  aware  of  Esther's  nationality,  they  knew  of  her  regard  for  Mordecai, 
and  her  interest  in  his  welfare.  Hence,  they  tell  her  of  liis  sorrow. 
Exceedingly  grieved  —  her  grief  and  alarm  were  intense,  almost 
convulsive  —  so  the  word  seems  to  imply.  The  thought  of  her  beloved 
kinsman  in  such  a  plight  of  woe  was  extremely  distressing.  With  the 
view  to  console  and  reassure  him  she  sends  him  a  change  of  raiment, 
desiring  him  to  substitute  it  for  the  sable  garb  he  was  wearing.  The 
offer  is  declined,  and  the  messengers  return  to  their  royal  mistress. 

5.  With  increasing  anxiety  the  queen  despatches  a  special  messenger 
to  learn  the  cause  and  meaning  of  Mordecai's  alarming  and  extraor- 
dinary demonstrations  of  grief. 

6.  The  square  —  a  broad,  open  space,  the  Greek  TrXaTtla,  an  area  in 
front  of  the  king's  gate. 

7.  Mordecai  liad  learned  all  the  particulars  respecting  tlie  bargain 
between  the  king  and  Ilaman.  The  immense  sum  of  money  promised 
by  Haman  is  mentioned  by  Mordecai  in  order  to  impress  upon  Esther's 
mind  a  sense  of  Haman's  eagerness  and  determination  to  extii-pate  the 
Jews.  Their  enemy  is  wilHng  to  pay  this  immense  sum,  in  order  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  glutting  liis  vengeance. 


CHAr.  IV.  8-11.]  ESTHER.  57 

destruction.  '^And  a  copy  of  tlie  written  decree  which  was 
given  in  Sluishaii  to  destroy  them  he  gave  him  to  sliow  to  Esther, 
and  [charged  him]  to  explain  to  her,  and  to  enjoin  upon  her 
to  go  to  the  king  in  order  to  make  supplication  to  him  and  to 
entreat  before  him  for  lier  people. 

^  And  Hatach  came  and  told  Esther  the  words  of  Mordecai. 

^•^  And  Esther  spoke  to  Hatach  and  gave  him  a  message  to 
Mordecai  :  ^^  All  the  king's  servants  and  the  people  of  the  king's 
provinces  know  that,  for  every  man  or  woman  who  shall  ap- 
proach the  king,  into  the  inner  court  uncalled,  his  law  is  invari- 
able—  to  put  him  to  death  ;  except  only  him  to  whom  the  king 
shall  extend  the  golden  sceptre  that  he  may  live.  And  I  have 
not  been  called  to  go  to  the  king  these  thirty  days. 

8.  In  order  to  impress  the  queen  further  with  a  sense  of  the  immi- 
nent peril,  Mordecai  sends  a  copy  of  the  royal  decree,  for  her  inspection. 
At  the  same  time  he  enjoins  upon  her  the  duty  of  interceding  widi  the 
king  for  the  preservation  of  her  people.  This  injunction  must  have 
disclosed  to  Hatach  Esther's  nationality,  even  if  it  were  previously 
unknown  to  him.  No  doubt  the  royal  scribes,  writing  at  the  monarch's 
dictation,  produced  a  considerable  number  of  copies  of  the  edict  at  the 
same  time,  so  that  Mordecai  would  have  no  difficulty  in  procuring  a 
coi^y  to  send  to  Esther. 

9,  10.  Hatach,  —  or  transliterated  from  the  Hebrew,  Hathak, — 
seems  to  have  been  the  qyeen's  trusted  and  confidential  messenger, 
selected,  no  doubt,  on  account  of  his  well-known  integrity.  "  We  are 
not  in  so  many  words  told  that  he  was  honest  and  true,  but  we  instinc- 
tively feel  it,  and  we  see  that  it  is  involved  in  the  narrative.  The 
queen  begins  to  be  in  sore  trouble.  The  darkness  is  deepening.  Some 
unknown  but  dire  calamity  is  near.  '  Send  me  Hatach  —  I  need  my 
truest  and  my  best  —  that  I  may  know  what  it  is,  and  why  it  is,  and 
what  may  be  done  to  prepare  for,  or  avert  the  evil  day.' "  (Alexander 
Raleigh,  D.D.,  "  The  Book  of  Esther,"  p.  99.) 

11.  Esther  adduces  an  apparently  insuperable  objection.  It  seems 
that  the  palace  had  an  outer  and  an  inner  court.  Whoever,  without 
being  summoned,  intruded  into  the  inner  court  was,  according  to  a  well- 
known  law,  put  to  death,  unless  the  monarch,  as  an  act  of  clemency, 
extended  his  golden  sceptre  toward  the  intruder,  in  which  case  the 
law  did  not  apply.  Esther  had  not  been  summoned  into  the  king's 
8 


68  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IV.  12-U. 

^2  And  they  told  Mordecai  the  words  of  Esther. 

13  And  Mordecai  commanded  to  answer  Esther :  Thhik  not 
in  thy  soul  to  escape  in  the  king's  house,  more  than  all  the 
Jews.  1*  For  if  thou  art  wholly  silent  at  this  time,  relief  and 
deliverance  will  arise  to  the  Jews  from  another  place,  but  thou 
wilt  perish  and  thy  father's  house.  And  who  knoweth  whether 
for  a  time  like  this  thou  liast  attained  to  the  kingdom  ? 

presence  for  thirty  days,  hence  she  hesitated  to  present  herself.  Ac- 
cording to  chap.  vi.  ver.  4,  o,  and  Herodotus  iii.  140,  any  man  might 
present  himself  in  the  outer  court,  and  seek  and  await  audience  with 
the  king.  Why  did  not  Esther  avail  herself  of  this  privilege  ?  To  this 
question  we  reply:  1.  It  might  have  heen  deemed  an  unseemly  thing 
for  the  queen  to  present  herself  in  the  manner  of  a  common  suppHant. 
For  her  to  do  this  might  have  deeply  offended  her  capricious  and  des- 
potic lord.  2.  She  might  have  been  unwilling  to  approach  the  monarch 
in  the  customary  manner,  since  in  that  case  she  would  be  required  to 
make  known  without  delay  the  cause  which  had  prompted  her  to  seek 
the  interview.  This  she  did  not  wish  to  do  at  the  outset,  until  she  had 
propitiated  the  king.  3.  It  may  be  that  icomen  were  not  allowed  in 
the  outer  court  at  all.  In  that  case  she  would  be  cut  oflE  from  access  to 
the  royal  presence  by  that  way.  Or  there  may  have  been  some  special 
regulation  for  the  government  of  the  king's  household,  which  was  not 
applicable  to  the  people  of  the  realm  generally.  As  to  the  "  golden 
sceptre,"  see  Notes  on  v.  2,  and  viii.  4 ;  also  Excursus  on  the  Golden 
Sceptre. 

13.  Think  not  in  thy  soul  —  do  not  entertain  the  idea  that  thy  resi- 
dence in  the  king's  palace  will  serve  to  jjrotect  thee  ;  thou  shall  share 
the  fate  of  thy  people. 

14.  Relief  —  literally,  roominess  or  hreathiny-space.  Mordecai  is 
confident  that  deliverance  will  come  from  some  quarter  ;  the  great,  un- 
named Power  which  has  so  long  watched  over  the  Israelitish  nation, 
will  rescue  them  from  the  snares  of  the  destroyer.  Though  many  — 
Esther  and  her  family  among  them  —  would  perish  in  the  impending 
conflict,  yet  the  Jews,  as  a  people,  would  survive.  Who  knoweth 
whether  —  a  very  timely  and  suggestive  intimation  that  Providence 
had,  perhaps,  raised  Esther  to  the  throne  for  this  very  juncture,  —  for 
the  express  purpose  of  effecting  through  lier  the  salvation  of  her  beloved 
nation.  The  patriodc  heart  of  the  young  Jewess  responded  at  once  to 
the  suggestion. 


Chap.  IV.  15-V.  1.]  !•  STIIER.  r^r\ 

^"  Then  Esther  coimnaiulcd  to  answer  Mordocui :  ^*^Go,  assinu- 
blc  all  the  Jews  found  in  Shu.shan,  and  fast  ye  for  me ;  and 
neither  eat  nor  drink  three  days,  niglit  or  day ;  I  also  and  my 
maidens  will  fast  likewise.  And  thus  will  I  go  to  the  king, 
which  is  not  according  to  the  law  ;  and  if  I  perish,  I  perish. 

^"  And  Mordecai  went  away,  and  did  according  to  all  that 
Esther  commanded  him. 

Y.  1  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day  that  Esther  put  on 
royal  apparel  and  stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the  king's  house, 
in  front  of  the  king's  house ;  and  the  king  was  sitting  upon  the 
royal  tlirone  in  the  royal  house,  opposite  the  entrance  to  the 

IG.  Fast  ye  for  me —  of  course,  the  idea  of  supplication  to  God 
for  tlie  success  of  her  attempt  is  implied  in  tlie  strongest  manner.  (See 
Excursus  on  Fasting.)  Three  days  —  the  actual  time  need  not  have 
been  much  more  than  thirty-six  hours,  if  we  reckon  —  according  to  the 
well-known  Jewish  method  —  from  the  evening  of  the  first  to  the 
morning  of  the  third  day.  and  counting  the  two  days  named  (compare 
Mark  viii.  31 ;  Luke  ix.  22).  If  I  perish,  I  perish  —  this  is  not  the 
expression  of  sullen  despondency,  but  of  self-sacrificing  courage,  ready 
to  do  its  duty  and  abide  the  consequences,  be  they  what  they  may. 

17.  From  his  connection  with  the  royal  household,  no  doubt  well- 
known  to  the  Jews  in  the  capital,  Mordecai  would  obviously  possess 
sufficient  influence  among  his  people  to  induce  them  to  assemble;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  command  of  the  queen  to  the  same  effect. 

Chap.  V.  1.  The  third  day  —  i.e.  reckoning  from  the  day  when 
Haman's  plot  was  made  known  to  the  queen.  Royal  apparel  —  this 
marks  the  change  from  her  garb  of  fasting,  and  equally  her  care  that 
nothing  should  be  neglected  that  might  favor  the  success  of  her  errand. 
Inner  court  —  this  implies  an  outer  court  which  was  accessible  to 
messengers  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  to  the  great  officers  of  state, 
and  to  all  who  had  any  special  business  with  tlie  king,  except  the  royal 
household.  For  the  latter,  the  queen  included,  the  access  must  be  by  the 
iiuier  court.  (See  note,  chap.  vi.  4 ;  and  Excursus  on  the  Topography 
and  Buildings.)  It  is  probable  that  she  entered  the  inner  court  from 
a  larger  domestic  court  [see  Excursus]  that  communicated  with  tli(^ 
building  or  apartment  which  she  occupied  ;  and  by  a  door  which  was 
not  in  sight  from  the  throne-room.     Having  entered  this  inner  court, 


60  ESTHER.  [Chap.  V.  2,  3. 

house.  ^  And  it  came  to  pass  that  when  the  kijig  saw  Esther 
the  queen  standing  in  the  court,  she  found  favoF  in  his  eyes ; 
and  the  king  extended  to  Esther  the  golden  sceptre  which  was 
in  his  hand.  And  Esther  approached,  and  touched  the  top  of 
the  sceptre.     ^  And  the  king  said  to  her  :  What  for  thee.  Queen 

she  came  and  stood  in  that  part  of  it  upon  which  tlie  throne-room 
opened  by  an  avenue  of  pillars.  As  the  king  sat  upon  his  throne,  the 
two  were  face  to  face,  though  separated  by  a  considerable  distance.  It 
was  a  critical  moment.  No  one  but  God  could  tell  what  whim  of  the 
monarch  would  be  in  the  ascendant  then.  It  was  something  that  he 
looked  upon  a  winning  face.  ''  It  is  a  constant  fact  in  nature  that  the 
sight  of  a  face  will  do  what  nothing  else  can  do  in  the  way  of  awaken- 
ing love,  touching  sympathy,  securing  trust,  and  evoking  help If 

I  am  seeking  a  good  thing,  my  face  ought  to  be  better  than  the  face  of 

another  for  the  getting  of  it Personal-  presence  is  a  power  that 

nothing  else  can  equal And  for  helpfulness  in  any  kind  of  dif- 
ficulty we  have  all  a  King  to  go  to."  (Raleigh.)  While  Esther  did  not 
overlook  the  importance  of  going  in  person  to  urge  her  suit,  she  did  not 
forget  that  profounder  fact  that;  "  the  heart  of  the  king  is  in  the  hand 
of  the  Lord." 

2.  The  golden  sceptre  —  we  have  many  delineations  of  Persian 
and  Babylonian  sceptre-bearers,  copied  from  the  old  sculptured  slabs 
that  have  been  exhumed  during  the  last  half  century.  The  sceptre,  as 
thus  represented,  is  described  as  "  an  instrument  like  a  stick  with  a 

rosette  ornament  at  one  end  and  a  loop  at  the  other."  In  some  of  the 
representations  we  seem  to  detect  a  vague  resemblance  to  a  human 
head.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  tins  in  the  statement  that  Esther 
touched  the  head  (-JKn)  of  the  sceptre.  From  the  dimensions,  as  very 
uniformly  shown,  it  is  clear  that  it  could  not  have  been  of  solid  gold. 
This  would  have  made  it  so  heavy  as  to  be  unwieldy.  It  would  re- 
quire more  muscular  exertion  than  Xerxes  would  be  willing  to  put 
forth,  to  hold  out  an  instrument  weighing  thirty  pounds,  till  the  queen 
could  pass  the  whole  width  of  the  throne-roora  to  touch  it.  Xenophon 
tells  us  that  three  hundred  sceptre-bearers,  richly  dressed,  attended  the 
elder  Cyrus  on  every  occasion.  (See  on  iv.  11  ;  also  Excursus  on  the 
Golden  Sceptre.) 

3.  What  for  thee?  —  This  is  entirely  literal,  and  well  exhibits  the 


Chap.  V.  4, 5.]  ESTHER.  61 

Esther  ?  and  what  thy  request  ?  even  to  half  of  the  kingdom, 
[ask]  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee. 

^  And  Esther  answered  :  If  it  seem  good  to  the  king,  let  the 
king  and  Haman  come  this  day  to  the  banquet  which  I  have 
pre[)ared  for  him. 

°  And  the  king  commanded  :  Hasten  Uaman  to  perform  the 
word  of  Esther.  And  the  king  and  Haman  went  to  the  lianquet 
which  Esther  had  prepared.  ^  And  the  king  said  to  Esther  at 
the  banquet  of  wine  :  Wliat  is  thy  petition  ?  and  it  shall  be 
granted  thee ;  and  what  is  thy  request  ?  even  to  half  of  the- 
kingdom,  [ask]  and  it  shall  be  done. 


spirit  of  the  scene.  What  for  thee,  Queen  Esther,  and  what  thy 
request  ?  Even  to  half  the  kingdom,  (ask)  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee 
—  the  conjunction  1  repeated  in  the  same  connection  in  ver.  G,  makes 
it  evident  that  some  word  equivalent  to  ask  must  be  supplied.  The 
high  sounding  magnificence  of  Oriental  promises  is  well  illustrated  here. 
(See  also  Mark  vi.  23.) 

4.  Banquet  —  See  note,  i.  5.  The  king  understood  that  this  invita- 
tion to  a  banquet,  couched  in  the  form  of  a  request,  was  simply  prelifn- 
inary  to  some  petition  of  greater  importance.  This  was  in  accordance 
with  Oriental  usage.  "  In  presenting  a  request  to  a  superior,  it  is  ex- 
tremely common  to  begin  with  an  outlying,  subordinate  matter,  and 
have  the  answer,  the  argument,  or  the  battle  over  that.  If  the  petition 
is  received  favorably,  it  will  be  easy  to  ask  a  little  more,  and  so  on. 
up  to  the  thing  really  desired.  Thus  the  entire  matter  is  not  com- 
promised, nor  either  the  petitioner  or  the  petitioned  committed  finally, 
by  the  first  refusal.  Of  course  the  one  petitioned  often  sees  through- 
the  whole  from  the  start ;  but  on  the  one  hand  it  is  a  form,  and  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  a  useful  form  —  two  good  reasons  for  keeping 
it  up.  Sometimes  the  petitioned  cuts  short  the  petitioner  at  the  start, 
and  goes  on  from  his  own  intuition  to  grant  the  whole  desired  favor. 
An  ancient  example  of  the  opposite  course  may  be  seen  in  1  Kings 
ii.  13-25."  (Prof.  Isaac  H.  Hall,  in  Sunday-School  Times  for  July 
9,  1881.) 

5.  Hasten  Haman  —  this  is  not  addressed  to  Haman  for  he  was  not 
present.  Tiie  verb  is  transitive,  and  Human  is  the  object.  It  was  a 
precept  enjoining  alacrity.  Give  notice  at  once  to  Haman,  that  he  may 
be  in  season.     We  might  render,  Cause  Ilamau  to  hasten. 


62  ESTHER.  [Chap.  V.  7-10. 

7  And  Esther  replied  and  said  :  My  petition  and  my  request 
—  ^  If  I  have  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  king,  and  if  it  seem 
good  to  the  king  to  grant  my  petition  and  perform  my  request, 
let  the  king  and  Haman  come  to  the  banquet  which  I  will  pre- 
pare for  them ;  and  to-morrow  I  will  do  according  to  the  word 
of  the  king. 

9  And  Haman  went  forth  on  that  day  joyful  and  glad  of 
heart.  But  when  Haman  saw  Mordecai  in  the  king's  gate,  and 
that  he  neither  rose  up  nor  moved  on  account  of  him,  Haman 
was  filled  with  wrath  towards  Mordecai.  I'^But  Haman  re- 
and  went  to  his  house.     And  he  sent  and 


7,  8.  The  queen's  reply  began  with  a  broken  sentence.  The  thought 
of  the  immense  issues  that  were  depending  on  her  words  may  well  have 
caused  some  fluttering  of  the  nerves,  and  some  hesitancy  and  confusion 
of  speech.  She  began  as  though  she  were  about  to  declare  the  whole 
burden  that  was  upon  her  soul.  It  is  not  impossible  that  such  was  her 
intention.  There  are  supreme  moments  when  great  wisdom  comes  in 
an  instantaneous  flash  of  thought.  A  glance  of  the  eye  may  have  given 
her  a  sense  of  the  situation,  that  led  her  to  change  her  intention  upon 
the  instant  that  the  word  request  fell  from  her  lips.  Whatever  the 
process  of  thought,  she  saw  that  her  best  hope  was  in  delay.  And  so 
she  proposes  a  similar  banquet  on  the  morrow,  with  the  promise  that 
she  will  then  make  a  full  disclosure  of  that  which  she  has  upon  her 
heart.  Whence  came  that  wisdom?  We  cannot  well  doubt,  in  the 
light  of  what  immediately  follows,  that  an  unseen  guide  was  leading 
her  in  a  way  that  she  knew  not. 

9,  10.  Leaving  the  king  and  the  queen,  the  narrative  now  passes  to 
Haman.  The  signal  honor  which  he  has  received  from  the  queen 
elates  him,  and  fills  him  with  a  selfish  delight.  But  in  a  moment  the 
whole  tide  of  his  feelings  is  changed.  Passing  the  propylon,  he  sees 
Mordecai  sitting  unmoved  as  a  statue,  and  withholding  the  homage  that 
is  rendered  him  by  others,  and  his  equanimity  is  sadly  disturbed.  He 
feels  the  rising  impulse  to  speak  out  his  indignation,  or  to  take  satis- 
faction on  the  spot.  But  he  restrains  himself.  With  difficulty  he  curbs 
the  rising  passion  till  he  reaches  his  home,  where  he  may  take  counsel 
of  his  friends,  and  of  Zeresh  his  wife.  He  sends  for  them,  and  the 
substance  of  his  harangue  is  given. 


Chap.  V.  11-14.]  ESTHER.  g3 

brought  in  his  friends  and  Zercsh  his  wife.  ^^  And  Haman 
recounted  to  them  the  glory  of  his  riches  and  tlie  multitude  of 
his  sons,  and  everything  wherein  the  king  had  honored  him, 
and  \vhercin  he  had  exalted  him  above  the  princes  and  servants 
of  the  king.  ^And  Haman  said:  Yea,  more  —  Esther  the 
queen  brought  in  with  the  king  to  the  banquet  wliich  she  had 
prepared  no  one  but  myself ;  and  also  for  the  morrow  am  I 
invited  to  her  with  the  king  ;  ^^  but  all  this  is  no  satisfaction  to 
me  so  long  as  I  see  Mordecai,  the  Jew,  sitting  in  the  king's  gate. 

1*  And  Zeresh  his  wife  and  all  his  friends  said  to  him  :  Let  a 
tree  be  made  fifty  cubits  high  ;  and  in  the  morning  speak  thou 
to  the  king,  and  let  Mordecai  be  impaled  on  it ;  then  go  thou 
with  the  king  to  the  banquet  rejoicing. 

And  the  thing  seemed  good  to  Haman,  and  he  caused  the 
tree  to  be  made. 

11.  The  multitude  of  his  sons  —  we  have  no  other  word  than 
multitude  to  meet  the  case  ;  yet  it  is  not  quite  the  word  we  want.  It 
fails  by  excess.  Ten  men  (see  chap.  ix.  7-10)  fall  very  far  short  of 
our  idea  of  a  multitude.  Yet  relatively,  i.e.  as  sons  in  a  shigle  family, 
they  were  many ;  and  this,  as  things  went  in  that  day,  was  no  incon- 
siderable element  of  prosperity  and  strength. 

13.  No  satisfaction  —  this  is  none  too  strong.  He  emphasizes  the 
nothingness  that  he  finds  in  all  the  good  fortune  to  which  he  points.  A 
single  ingredient  of  bitterness  has  poisoned  the  whole.  True,  he  has 
no  doubt  that  the  king's  decree  already  enacted  will  sweep  away  Mor- 
decai by  and  by.  But  how  can  he  wait  ?  The  misery  of  the  situation 
will  consume  him. 

14.  Ills  counsellors  have  a  speedy  remedy;  and  the  preparation 
may  begin  at  once.  A  tree  be  made  fifty  cubits  high  —  it  is  not 
necessary  to  suppose  that  the  stake  or  pole  for  the  impalement  was  to 
be  made  of  this  length.  We  have  representations  of  the  simple  struc- 
ture (see  Excursus  on  Early  Modes  of  Execution)  which  they  doubt- 
less had  in  mind,  consisting  of  a  stake  fixed  in  a  movable  base  or 
pedestal.  And  this  set  upon  some  roof,  tower,  or  other  elevation 
already  existing  in  his  grounds,  with  the  addition,  if  necessary,  of  a 
temporary  scaffold,  would  meet  all  the  demands  of  the  text.  The  ele- 
vation would  bring  the  execution  fully  into  public  view,  and  settle  the 
case  against  any  similar  offence  from  any  quarter.     He  would  need  to 


64  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VI.  1-3. 

VI.  ^  On  that  night  the  king's  sleep  fled,  and  he  commanded 
to  bring  in  the  book  of  records  of  the  daily  affairs  ;  and  they 
were  being  read  before  the  king.  ^  And  there  was  found  written 
what  Mordecai  had  told  against  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  two  of  the 
king's  eunuchs,  of  the-  keepers  of  the  entrance,  who  sought  to 
lay  hands  on  the  king  Xerxes.     '  And  the  king  said  :  What 

strike  but  once.  The  preparatior  does  not  wait  for  the  king's  sentence. 
This  was  regarded  as  in  no  degree  doubtful.  The  carpenters  are  put 
to  their  work  without  delay ;  and  it  begins  to  be  understood  in  Shushan 
(see  chap.  vii.  9)  what  the  unusual  demonstration  means. 

Chap.  VI.  1.  On  that  night  —  the  Hebrew  makes  the  time  very 
definite  ;  that  very  night,  i.e.  the  night  immediately  following  the  day 
of  the  queen's  banquet,  and  of  Haman's  conference  with  Zeresh  and 
his  friends  just  narrated.  The  king's  sleep  fled  —  this  is  literal ;  a  bold 
figure !  The  king  cannot  command  his  own  sleep.  It  is  common  to 
speak  of  the  "  loss  of  sleep,"  as  though  we  had  lost  something  ap- 
pointed for  us,  and  so  properly  our  own.  To  Xerxes  it  seemed  like 
the  escape  and  flight  of  a  fickle  servant  that  he  could  not  pursue.  It 
was  not  an  event  that  was  in  any  way  surprising  or  worthy  of  special 
notice,  except  as  connected  in  the  chain  of  events.  In  this  connection 
it  was  vital,  and  gave  token  of  the  ordering  of  the  divine  hand.  Book 
of  records  —  literally,  hooh  of  remembrances,  or  remembrance  book. 
We  have  the  same  words,  lacking  only  the  plural  form,  in  Mai.  iii.  16. 
The  book  which  the  king  ordered  to  be  brought  was  that  which  is 
spoken  of  in  chap.  ii.  23,  the  book  in  which  the  diary  of  the  empire  was 
kept.  (See  Ezra  iv.  15,  19.  "  Historiographers  were  attached  to  the 
Persian  court,  and  attended  the  monarch  wherever  he  went.  We  find 
them  noting  down  facts  for  Xerxes  at  Doriscus  (Herod,  vii.  100),  and 
again  at  Salamis  (Herod,  viii.  90).  They  kept  a  record  something  like 
the  acta  diurna  of  the  early  Roman  empire  (Tacit.  Ann.  xiii.  31),  and 
specially  noted  whatever  concerned  the  king.  Ctesias  pretended  to 
have  drawn  his  Persian  history  from  the  Chronicles."  —  Rawlinson.) 

2.  What  Mordecai  had  told  —  it  is  evident  that  the  substance  of  the 
information  he  gave  was  recorded.  The  record  was  sufficiently  cir- 
cumstantial and  vivid  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  king's  mind. 
Bigthan,  or  more  correctly  Bigthana.  The  third  syllable  of  this 
name,  found  here,  does  not  appear  in  chapter  ii.  ver.  21. 

3.  The  king  felt  that  some  fit  acknowledgment  of  such  an  act  of 


Chap.  VI.  4.]  ESTHER.  65 

honor  and  distinction  have  been  conferred  upon  Mordecai  for 
this  ? 

And  the  king's  young  men,  his  ministers,  replied  :  Nothing 
has  been  done  for  him. 

*  And  the  king  said  :  Who  is  in  the  court  ? 

Now  Ilaman  had  come  into  the  outer  court  of  the  king's 
house  to  request  the  king  to  impale  Mordecai  on  the  tree  which 
he  had  set  up  for  him. 

fidelity  was  due  to  his  own  interests.  Beyond  question  it  was  called 
for  by  precedents  which  many  about  him  would  bring  to  mind.  (•'  It  was 
a  settled  principle  of  the  Persian  government  that  *  Royal  Benefac- 
tors '  were  to  receive  an  adequate  reward.  The  names  of  such  persons 
were  placed  on  a  special  roll  (Herod.  viiL  85),  and  great  care  was  taken 
that  they  should  be  properly  recompensed-  (See  Herod,  iii.  140  ;  v, 
11  ;  viii.  85;  Thucyd.  L  138;  Xen.  Hel.  iii.  1  and  6,  etc.).  It  is  a 
mistake,  however,  to  suppose  (Davidson)  that  they  were  always 
rewarded  at  once.  Themistocles  was  inscribed  on  the  list  B.C.  480,  but 
did  not  obtain  a  reward  till  B.C.  465.  Other  benefactors  waited  for 
months  (Herod-  v.  11),  or  perhaps  years  (Herod,  i.  107),  before  they 
were  recompensed-  Sometimes  a  benefactor  seems  to  have  received 
no  reward  at  all  (Herod,  iii-  138.)" — Rawlinson.)  No  less  would  the 
instinct  that  led  him  to  provide  for  his  own  future  safety  demand  it- 
Who  would  take  the  risk  of  shielding  him  from  a  second  peril,  if  this 
should  pass  unrewarded  ?  The  form  of  the  narrative  is  almost  dramatic 
Written  in  the  style  of  the  modern  drama,  it  would  read  —  Xerxes: 
What  honor  and  distinction  have  been  rendered  to  Mordecai  for  this  ? 
Ministers:  Nothing  has  been  done  for  him.  Xerxes:  Who  is  in  the 
court?  JI/i'«i5<ers ;  Behold  Ilaman  is  standing  in  the  court.  Xerxes: 
Let  him  come  in-  \_Enter  Human.']  What  shall  be  done  to  the  man 
in  whose  honor  the  king  delights.''  Haman  \_Aside ;  To  whom  would 
the  king  delight  to  do  honor  more  than  to  myself  ?]  :  The  man  in  whose 
honor  the  king  delights,  let  them  bring,  etc.  Xerxes:  Hasten,  take 
the  apparel,  and  the  horse  as  thou  hast  said,  etc.  [_Scene  at  Haman's 
house].    Zeresh,  and  the  wise  men :  If  Mordecai  is  of  the  seed  of  the 

Jews, then    thou   shalt   utterly    fall    before  him.     Certainly  no 

drama  ever  crowded  more  into  so  narrow  a  compass- 

4.  Outer  Court  —  absolute  certainty  as  to  the  location  of  the  outer 
and  inner  courts  of  the  palace  of  Xerxes  at  Susa  is  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  unattainable.     But  by  comparing  what  is  told  us 


66  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VI.  5-8. 

^  And  the  king's  young  men  said  to  him  :  Behold,  Haman  is 
standing  in  the  court. 

And  the  king  said  :  Let  him  come  in. 

^  And  Haman  came  in  ;  and  the  king  said  to  him  :  What 
shall  be  done  for  the  man  in  whose  honor  the  king  delights  ? 

And  Haman  said  in  his  heart :  To  whom  would  the  king 
delight  to  do  honor  more  than  to  myself  ?  ">  Then  Haman  said 
to  the  king  :  For  the  man  in  whose  honor  the  king  delights, 
^  let  them  bring  the  royal  apparel  with  which  the  king  clothes 
himself,  and  the  horse  upon  which  the  king  rides,  and  the 
crown  royal  which  is  worn  upon  his  head ;  ^  and  let  the  a\> 

(1  Kings  vii.  1-12)  of  the  royal  buildings  erected  by  Solomon  at  Jeru- 
salem, the  foundations  uncovered  by  Botta  at  IQiorsabad,  the  ruins  of 
Persepolis,  and  finally  those  that  have  been  laid  open  at  Susa,  we  arrive 
at  conclusions  that  give  us  what  is  certainly  a  possible  and  very  intel- 
ligible explanation  of  the  difficult  points  connected  with  the  subject. 
The  outer  court,  which  opened  the  palace  to  the  approach  of  the  public 
officers  and  messengers  of  the  king,  was  subject  to  no  such  restriction 
as  that  which  was  laid  upon  the  inner  court,  or  court  of  the  harem 
(iv.  11).  It  was  in  view  from  the  throne,  though  the  larger  portion  of 
it  was  seen  obliquely  across  the  intercolumnar  spaces.  (See  Excursus 
on  the  Topography  and  Buildings.)  It  is  probable  that  the  king  dis- 
covered a  movement  on  the  part  of  the  guards  at  the  propylon  that 
showed  that  some  officer  of  distinction  had  arrived,  and  at  the  same 
time  caught  a  glimpse  of  Haman  himself,  but  not  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness to  be  sure  that  it  was  he.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the 
king  asked  the  question,  Who  is  in  the  court,  without  any  such  dis- 
covery ;  having  a  right  to  assume  that  some  one  or  more  of  his  min- 
isters would  be  at  that  time  in  the  court.  It  is  certainly  an  objection 
to  this,  that  Ilaman's  presence  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  antic- 
ipated by  the  king,  and  would  not  have  occurred  but  for  his  special 
errand.  Moreover,  the  king's  inquiry  should  have  been,  on  this  theory, 
not  Wlio  is  in  the  court  ?  but  Is  there  any  one  in  the  court  ?  Not  "'a 
but  ir^N:  should  have  been  used.  (See  2  Sam.  ix.  3  ;  2  Kings  xviii.  33  ; 
Prov.  vi.  28 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  24.) 

8.  Let  them  bring,  etc.  —  Hamau  is  here  shown  to  be  a  man  of 
great  readiness  and  versatility.  True,  his  inventive  powers  were 
quickened  by  the  spur  of  personal  ambition,  and  the  thought  of  the 


Chap.  VI.  9-13.]  ESTHER.  67 

parel  and  the  horse  be  given  to  the  hand  of  one  of  the  king's 
noblest  princes;  and  let  them  array  the  man  in  whose  honor 
the  king  delights,  and  cause  him  to  ride  on  the  horse  in  the 
public  square  of  the  city,  and  proclaim  before  him  :  Thus  shall 
it  be  done  for  the  man  in  whose  honor  the  king  delights. 

^'^  And  the  king  said  to  Haman  :  Hasten,  take  the  apparel 
and  the  horse,  as  thou  hast  said,  and  do  so  to  Mordecai  the 
Jew  who  sits  in  the  king's  gate  ;  let  not  a  word  fail  of  all  that 
thou  hast  said. 

^1  And  Haman  took  the  apparel  and  the  horse,  and  arrayed 
Mordecai,  and  caused  him  to  ride  on  the  horse  in  the  public 
square  of  the  city,  and  proclaimed  before  him  :  Tims  shall  it 
be  done  for  the  man  in  whose  honor  the  king  delights. 

^  And  Mordecai  returned  to  the  king's  gate. 

But  Haman  hastened  to  his  house,  dejected  and  with  his 
head  covered.  ^^  And  Haman  recounted  to  Zeresh  his  wife  and 
to  all  his  friends  everything  that  had  befallen  him. 

highest  honors  he  could  devise  concentrated  upon  himself.  But  he  was 
not  thrown  from  his  balance.  His  ruling  passion  held  him  true  to 
himself.  He  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity  ;  he  pushed  the  priv- 
ilege of  the  moment  to  its  utmost  limit. 

10.  Do  so  to  Mordecai  —  probably'  no  more  sudden  or  chilling 
reverse  ever  befell  any  mortal.  Not  only  does  his  charming  vision  of 
the  highest  earthly  glory  to  which  he  could  aspire  collapse  at  a  breath, 
but  his  sweet  dream  of  revenge  is  gone  ;  and  worse  than  all,  the  mag- 
nificent demonstration  which  he  had  devised  for  himself  all  goes  under 
his  own  superintendence  to  the  honor  of  him  whom  he  hated  most  of 
all  men,  and  for  whom  he  had  been  contriving  a  doom  of  shame  and 
of  death.  This  sudden  check  to  the  flow  of  his  spirits  led  Lim  to 
imagine  something  deeper  than  the  king  intended. 

12.  His  head  covered  —  he  went  through  the  required  demonstra- 
tion, doubtless,  as  became  a  great  minister  of  state  upon  whom  a  thou- 
sand eyes  were  turned.  But  when  he  had  escaped  from  public  gaze, 
he  could  command  himself  no  longer.  He  felt  that  he  must  hide  his 
tell-tale  countenance  from  those  he  would  meet,  till  he  reached  the 
asylum  of  sympathy  which  he  would  find  in  his  home. 

13.  Hast  begun  to  fall  —  his  counsellors,  and  even  his  wife,  have 


68  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VI.  14- VII.  1-3. 

And  his  wise  men  and  Zcresh  his  wife  said  to  him :  If  Mor- 
decai,  before  whom  thou  hast  begun  to  fall,  be  of  the  race  of 
the  Jews,  thou  shalt  not  prevail  over  him,  but  thou  shalt  utterly 
fall  before  him. 

1*  While  the  J  were  yet -talking  with  him,  the  king's  eunuchs 
approached,  and  hastened  to  bring  Haman  to  the  banquet  which 
Esther  had  prepared. 

VII.  ^  And  the  king  and  Haman  came  to  drink  with  Esther 
the  queen.  ^  ^j^j  the  king  said  to  Esther,  on  the  second  day 
also,  at  the  banquet  of  wine  :  What  is  thy  petition,  queen 
Esther  ?  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee ;  and  what  is  thy  request  ? 
even  to  half  of  the  kingdom,  [ask]  and  it  shall  be  performed. 

3  Then  Esther  the  queen  answered  and  said  :  If  I  have  found 
favor  in  thine  eyes,  0  king,  and  if  it  seem  good  to  the  king, 
let  my  life  be  given  me  at  my  petition,  and  my  people  at  my 

no  proi>  for  him  in  his  adversity.  Their  words  have  the  effect,  rather, 
of  an  additional  impulse  downward.  No  less  than  three  changes  are 
rung  by  them  on  that  word  fall.  "  Thou  hast  begun  to  fall, fall- 
ing, thou  shalt  fall  before  him"  —  so,  when  literally  rendered.  How 
different  their  language  from  that  with  which  they  cheered  him  on  his 
way  to  the  former  banquet  of  the  queen. 

14.  The  king's  eunuchs  are  at  hand  to  escort  him  to  Esther's  second 
banquet.  He  goes  not  "  rejoicing  "  (see  chap.  v.  14),  but  with  a  death- 
knell  ringing  in  his  ear. 

Chap.  VII.  1.  To  drink  —  it  was  a  banquet  of  wine.  Now  let 
Haman  drink,  and  forget  the  dark  cloud  that  had  come  over  him. 
Who  can  tell  what  new  turn  of  affairs  may  render  all  bright  again,  and 
help  him  on  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  desire.  The  queen's  request 
will  come  first ;  what  if  it  should  prepare  the  way  for  his  ?  Twenty- 
four  hours  often  produced  great  changes  in  the  determinations  of 
Xerxes.  "  The  Persians,"  says  Ebers,  "  always  reflected  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  sober,  on  the  resolutions  formed  the  night  before,  while 
drunk  "  (Egyptian  Princess,  Preface,  p.  8).  All  is  fair ;  the  queen  smiles 
as  sweetly,  and  the  king  is  as  gracious  as  yesterday.  How  can  any 
deadly  bolt  break  forth  from  such  a  sky  ?  Their  hearts  grow  merry, 
and  the  king  renews  his  promise  to  Esther,  and  bids  her  as  before 
ask,  even  to  half  of  the  kingdom. 


Ghap.  VII.  4-7.]  ESTHER.  69 

request ;  *  for  we  are  sold,  I  and  my  people,  to  destroy  [us], 
to  kill  [us],  and  to  cause  [us]  to  perish.  Yet  if  we  had  been 
sold  for  bondmen  and  for  bondwomen,  I  had  kept  silent  — 
although  the  adversary  could  not  compensate  for  the  king's 
damage. 

^  And  the  king  Xerxes  answered  and  said  to  Esther  the 
queen  :  Who  is  this,  and  where  is  he,  whose  heart  has  filled 
him  to  do  thus  ? 

^  And  Esther  said  :  The  man,  adversary,  and  enemy,  is  this 
wicked  Haman. 

Now  Haman  was  terrified  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and 
the  queen. 

''  And  the  king  arose  in  his  wrath  from  the  banquet  of  wine 
[and  went]  into  the  garden  of  the  palace. 

3,  4.  My  life,  and  my  people  —  the  queen's  lips  are  unsealed  now,  and 
three  liot  glowing  sentences  will  tell  the  whole.  Sold,  destroy,  kill, 
perish  —  the  very  words  of  Hainan's  infamous  decree  !  Compensate 
—  literally,  "  the  enemy  could  not  be  even,  or  level  with,"  i.e.  up  to  the 
level  of,  the  king's  damage.  Let  the  enemy  exhaust  all  his  resources, 
and  the  king  would  still  be  a  loser. 

5.  Who  is  this?  —  the  king  is  evidently  aroused.  The  words  of 
Esther  have  gone  home  to  the  mark.  He  throws  out  his  pronouns  in 
a  wild  confusion  of  excitement,  and  then  repeats  them  with  the  order 
inverted.  "  Who  is  he,  that^  one  —  and  where  is  that  one,  he,  whose 
heart  has  fdled  him  (with  the  audacity)  to  do  so?"  —  it  is  clear  that  the 
identification  cannot  wait.  It  must  be  prompt  and  unmistakable. 
And  the  queen  is  equal  to  the  demand. 

6.  The  man,  adversary,  etc.  —  the  queen's  blood  is  up.  She  sees 
her  advantage ;  and  she  speaks  with  all  the  vehemence  of  one  who  has 
deeply  felt  the  monstrous  injustice  of  Haman's  plot.  The  collocation 
of  the  words  iu'  the  Hebrew  leaves  no  doubt  that  they  were  accom- 
panied with  a  gesture  of  the  hand  ;  her  scorn  and  righteous  indignation 
flashed  out,  as  it  were,  at  her  very  finger's-end,  as  she  pointed  to  him. 
"The  man,  adversary,  and  enemy,  is  Haman,  the  wretch,  this  (one)." 
Well  might  he  be  terror-stricken  in  that  presence.  He  reads,  in  the 
king's  countenance  and  in  his  movements,  the  angry  excitement  that 
has  taken  possession  of  him. 

7.  His  wrath  —  a  great   heat   of  excitement   enkindled   by    tliis 


70  ESTHER.  [Chap.  Vn.  8, 9. 

And  Hainan  stood  to  plead  with  the  queen  Esther  for  his 
life  ;  for  he  saw  that  the  evil  was  determined  against  him  by 
the  king. 

^  And  the  king  returned  from  the  garden  of  the  palace  to  the 
hall  of  the  banquet  of  wine,  and  Haman  was  falling  upon  the 
couch  on  which  Esther  was.  And  the  king  said  :  Will  he  also 
force  the  queen,  with  me  in  the  house  ?  The  command  went 
forth  from  the  mouth  of  the  king,  and  they  covered  the  face  of 
Haman. 

^And  Harbonah,  one  of  the  eunuchs  before  the  king,  said  : 
Behold  also  the  tree,  which  Haman  made  for  JVJordecai  who 
spoke  [what  was]  good  for  the  king,  stands  at  the  house  of 
Haman,  fifty  cubits  high. 

And  the  king  said  :  Impale  him  on  it. 

sudden  and  unlocked  for  development.  It  was  not  wholly  wrath,  but 
a  complex  feeling  consisting  in  part  of  disappointment  and  chagrin 
that  his  favorite  minister  should  be  caught  in  such  a  blunder,  and  such 
a  crime ;  in  part  of  a  disquieting  sense  of  his  own  thoughtless  com- 
plicity in  the  plot ;  and  in  pai-t  of  a  just  indignation  at  the  magnitude 
and  atrocity  of  the  intended  massacre.  Garden  of  the  palace  — 
properly,  the  garden  of  the  Great  Hall,  or  garden  of  the  Bethan.  (See 
on  chap.  i.  5  ;  also  Excursus  on  Topography  and  Buildings.)  Xerxes 
leaves  the  banquet-hall  for  a  moment  that  he  may  become  sufficiently 
the  master  of  himself  to  know  how  to  act.  Ilaman  seizes  the  moment 
to  implore  the  favor  of  the  queen  to  avert  the  extreme  sentence  of 
death.  Already  his  case  has  become  desperate.  If  only  his  life  may 
be  spared,  he  asks  no  more ;  and  even  this  he  presumes  not  to  ask 
from  the  king.     He  prefei's  the  chance  of  appealing  to  the  queen. 

8.  Was  falling,  etc.  —  in  his  extreme  perturbation  he  hardly  knew 
what  he  did.  We  may  suppose  that  having  failed  to  obtain  any  sign 
of  help  from  Estlier,  he  gave  himself  up  to  a  frenzy  of  despair,  and 
in  bowing  low  before  her,  seemed  to  the  king  at  the  first  glimpse  he 
caught  of  hira,  to  deserve  the  bitter  insinuation  to  which  he  gave  vent. 
This  was  followed  by  the  command  ("i3^  is  rendered  commandment  no 
less  than  eight  times  in  the  A.V.,  in  the  Book  of  Esther),  to  cover 
Raman's  face  in  token  of  his  doom. 

9.  Behold  the  tree,  etc.  —  Harbonah  was  quick  to  discern  the  king's 
mood,  and  to  see  that  this  was  just  the  fuel  that  the  fire  required.     In 


Chap.  VII.  10- VIII.  1.]  ESTHER.  71 

^<^  And  they  impaled  Hainan  on  the  tree  which  he  had  set  up 
for  Mordecai.     And  the  wrath  of  the  king  subsided. 

YIII.  ^  On  that  very  day  the  king  Xerxes  gave  to  the  queen 
Esther  the  liouse  of  Haman,  the  adversary  of  the  Jews.  And 
Mordecai  came  before  the  king ;  for  Esther  had  made  known 

form,  his  words  were  only  an  appendix  to  the  dark  insinuation  of 
Xerxes,  and  a  further  justification  of  the  doom  he  had  pronounced. 
But  he  well  knew  that  the  kiii^  would  turn  them  to  other  account.  It 
was  a  covert  suggestion.  Impale  him  on  it  —  this  was  as  Ilarbonah 
anticipated.  No  time  was  lost.  Haman  was  hurried  away  to  exe- 
cution ;  and  his  own  apparatus  of  death,  lifted  high  in  the  air,  on  his 
own  grounds  to  give  effect  to  the  punishment  he  intended  for  INIordecai, 
exhibited  in  the  view  of  all  the  people  his  own  lifeless  body  instead. 
The  Persians  saw  in  this  another  illustration  of  the  fickleness  of  fortune, 
and  of  the  sudden  reverses  that  so  often  befell  the  men  in  power ;  the 
Jews  saw  a  gracious  answer  to  prayer,  a  striking  manifestation  of  the 
providence  of  God  who  is  wonderful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working. 

10.  Wrath subsided — see  note  ver.  7.   It  was  a  relief  to  Xerxes 

to  have  done  something  that  the  case  required.  He  was  willing  for  the 
moment  to  believe  that  he  had  done  enough.  Tlie  heat  of  his  tempes- 
tuous excitement,  finding  vent  in  the  execution  of  Haman,  was  abated. 
In  his  calmer  mood  he  could  be  approached  again. 

Chap.  VIII.  1.  On  that  very  day  —  when  the  downfall  of  Hamau 
began,  it  rushed  to  a  speedy  conclusion.  Calamities  come  in  clusters. 
Justice  seems  often  to  be  long  collecting  her  forces;  but  when  the 
retribution  begins,  it  falls  like  an  avalanche.  So  it  wag  in  Ilamah's 
case.  On  the  very  day  that  he  was  impaled,  his  hou.se,  i.e.  his  whole 
estate,  which  we  sup{X)se  was  princely,  passed  over  into  the  hands  of 
one  of  the  people  whose  ruin  he  had  sought  to  compass.  The  adversary 
of  the  Jews  —  the  Hebrew  language  discriminates  carefully  between 
enemji  and  adversary.  An  "  enemy,"  2;^'i5t ,  is  one  whose  heart  is  fall 
of  evil  purposes,  longings,  designs  towards  another ;  an  "  adversary," 
"Hs ,  is  one  who  enters  upon  active  operations  against  another.  The 
former  refers  more  to  the  mental  state,  the  latter  to  the  conduct. 
Ilaman  was  both  the  enemy  and  adversary  of  the  Jews.  (See  iii.  10; 
vii.  6;  ix.  1,  10.)  Mordecai  came  before  the  king  —  he  before  this 
was  sitting  in  the  gate  of  the  king,  i.e.  lie  was  a  courtier  in  the  palace. 
(See  on  chap.  ii.  19.)     Now  he  is  elevated  from  the  position  of  courtier, 


72  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VIII.  2, 3. 

what  he  was  to  her.  ^And  the  king  took  off  his  signet-ring 
which  he  had  withdrawn  from  Haraan,and  gave  it  to  Mordecai. 
And  Esther  placed  Mordecai  over  the  house  of  Haman.  ^And 
Esther  continued  and  spoke  before  the  king,  and  fell  at  his 
feet  and  wept,  and  besought  him  to  avert  the  evil  of  Haman 

or  royal  judge,  to  be  grand  vizier,  or  premier  in  the  empire.  He  could 
now  come  before  the  king' — i.e.  enter  his  immediate  presence,  and 
transact  business  with  him  face  to  face.  Daniel  had  occupied  a  similar 
position  in  the  government  of  Darius  (Dan.  vi.  2).  What  he  was  to  her 
—  he  was  her  cousin.  She  was  Mordecai's  uncle's  daughter  (ii.  7). 
[May  not  the  expression,  "  what  he  was  to  her,"  involve  more  than 
the  idea  of  mere  relationship  ?  May  it  not  include  the  kindness  and 
tender  care  which  he  had  bestowed  upon  her  in  her  orphanage  and 
loneliness  ?  Not  only  was  he  her  cousin ;  he  was  her  guardian  and 
guide  and  foster-parent  as  well.  The  knowledge  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  befriended  the  queen  could  hardly  fail  to  predispose  the 
king  in  his  favor.  The  fact  that  the  verb  is  wanting  in  the  original, 
may  allow  some  latitude  in  the  choice  of  tenses,  and  permit  us  to  read, 
"  what  he  had  been  to  her."  —  Ed.]. 

2.  Signet-ring  —  "  Signet,"  a  diminutive  of  the  word  "  sign,"  and 
means  a  small  seal,  such  as  was  put  into  a  ring  worn  upon  the  finger. 
It  is  thought  that  not  one  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia  could  write 
his  name.  (Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon.,  iii.  229.)  They  used  the  signet- 
ring  for  the  signing  of  all  documents.  As  the  etymology  of  the 
Hebrew  word  indicates  —  i^??'^  from  rsa ,  '•  to  impress  into  any  soft 
substance  " ;  hence,  to  impress  a  seal,  to  seal  —  the  main  idea  of  this 
ring  was  that  it  served  the  purpose  of  signing  one's  name  ;  that  is, 
making  a  sign  that  would  stand  for  one's  name.  (See  on  iii.  10;  viii. 
8,  10 ;  also,  Excursus  on  Signet  Rings  and  Seals.)  How  easily  might 
such  ignorant  kings  as  the  above  be  imposed  upon  by  their  more  learned 
scribes.  Esther  placed  Mordecai  over  the  house  of  Haman  —  he 
whom  Haman  had  plotted  to  destroy,  was  now  on  the  pinnacle  of  honor 
and  power.  "  Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes."  Wickedness  can- 
not prosper,  even  in  this  world.  Haman  passed  away,  and  Mordecai 
sits  in  his  place,  and  is  clothed  with  power  for  the  saving  of  the  people 
whom  their  wicked  adversary  would  annihilate. 

3.  Continued,  spoke,  fell  at  his  feet,  wept,  besought  —  here  are 
five  verbs  describing  the  actions  of  Esther,  aiid  they  disclose  what  a 
world  of  deep  and  mingled  emotions  had  taken  possession  of  her  soul. 


Chap.  VIII.  4,5.)  ESTHER.  73 

the  Agaiiitc,  and  liis  machination  which  he  contrived  against 
the  Jews. 

*  Then  the  king  extended  to  Esther  the  golden  sceptre. 

And  Esther  arose  and  stood  before  tlie  king  ;  ^  and  she  said  : 
If  it  seem  good  to  the  king,  and  if  I  have  found  favor  before 
him,  and  the  thing  appear  riglit  to  the  king,  and  I  be  pleasing 

They  reveal  also  the  nobler  and  heroic  elements  of  character.  She 
was  playing  no  part,  but  was  a  real  person  in  actual  lite.  Many 
a  one  that  had  undergone  what  had  been  laid  on  her  would  have 
ceased  now  that  Ilaman's  body  hung  on  the  gibbet  and  Mordecai  was 
in  the  seat  of  power.  But  this  courageous  woman  rested  not  until 
all  the  work  was  done.  She  carries  her  people  on  her  heart,  and  is 
ever  ready  to  face  danger  in  their  behalf.  These  five  verbs  are  more 
eloquent  of  heroic  daring,  and  of  love  for  truth  and  right,  than  Caesar's 
veni.  fi'di,  vici.  There  is  no  self  in  these  words  of  Esther.  In  her 
position  she  was  safe.  But  her  people  were  not  safe ;  the  church  of 
God  was  not  safe ;  therefore  she  wept  and  besought  in  their  behalf. 
The  word  r)0^,  rendered  continued  —  literally  added,  often  has  the 
force  of  an  auxiliary  verb,  and,  in  its  relation  to  the  verb  following, 
may  be  rendered  "again,"  "further,"  "still  more."  E.g.  Gen.  iv.-2  ; 
viii.  12  ;  xxv.  1  ;  Judges  xi.  14.  His  machination  which  he  contrived 
—  literally  machinated;  the  verb  and  noun  come  from  the  same  root. 
arn  means  to  contrive,  devise,  invent.  The  Hebrew  language  has  no 
stronger  word  to  imply  that  Haman,  A  man  of  great  powers,  put  his 
whole  thought  and  ingenuity  into  the  plot  of  ruining,  the  people  of 
God.  But  "  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men  "  (1  Cor.  i.  25). 
"If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?"  (Rom.  viii.  31.) 

4.  The  golden  sceptre  —  the  sceptre  was  a  sign  of  office.  It  was  a 
rod  or  staff  borne  in  the  hand  as  an  evidence  of  authority  and  power. 
The  Roman  magistrates  lia<l  the  fasces,  i.e.  an  axe  tied  up  in  a  bundle 
of  rods,  borne  before  them  as  a  sign  of  their  authority.  The  sceptre 
is  frequently  re.ferred  to  in  Jewish  history.  The  heads  of  tribes  bore 
it  as  well  as  the  kings  (Gen.  xlix.  10).  The  word  translated  sceptre, 
ODia ,  is  often  rendered  "  tribe."  The  Persian  kings  had  golden 
sceptres,  probably  a  wooden  staff  covered  with  a  plating  of  gold.  The 
inclination  of  it  towards  a  subject  indicated  favor  ;  kissing  or  touching 
the  top  of  it  was  a  sign  of  submission  and  homage.  (See  notes  on  v.  2  ; 
also  Excursus  on  the  Golden  Sceptre.) 

5-7.   And  she  said :  If  it  seem  good  to  the  king,  etc.  —  these 


74  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VIII.  6-9. 

in  his  eyes,  let  it  be  written  to  reverse  the  letters,  the  machi- 
nation of  Haman,  the  son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  wliich 
he  wrote  to  destroy  the  Jews  wlio  are  in  all  the  provinces  of  the 
king ;  ^  for  liow  can  I  look  upon  the  evil  which  will  befall  my 
people  !  and  how  can  I  behold  the  destruction  of  my  kindred  ! 

'■  Then  Xerxes  the  king  said  to  the  queen  Esther  and  to 
Mordecai  the  Jew  :  Behold,  the  house  of  Haman  have  I  given 
to  Esther,  and  him  have  they  impaled  upon  the  tree  ;  because 
he  laid  his  hands  upon  the  Jews.  ^  Write  ye  also,  in  the  king's 
name,  concerning  the  Jews  as  seems  good  in  your  eyes,  and 
seal  with  the  king's  signet-ring  ;  because  a  writing  that  is 
written  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  is  sealed  with  the  king's 
signet-ring  may  not  be  reversed. 

3  And  the  king's  scribes  were  summoned  at  that  very  time, 

speeches  of  Esther  are  well  worthy  of  notice,  as  showing  her  to  be  a 
woman  of  no  mean  endowments.  None  but  a  truly  heroic  soul  could 
have  uttered  such  words  as  these,  and  with  such  effect.  These  speeches 
themselves  afford  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  genuineness  and  authen- 
ticity of  this  book.  If  they  were  uttered  by  Esther,  and  recorded  by  the 
scribes  who  wrote  down  all  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  king  and  those 
in  his  presence,  and  were  engrossed  in  "  the  book  of  daily  records,"  we 
may  well  expect  to  find  in  these  extracts  from  that  book  a  true  reflection 
of  the  genius,  the  character,  and  intellectual  ability  of  this  remarkable 
woman.  Put  these  speeches  beside  those  of  any  heathen  woman  of  an- 
tiquity, and  see  how  they  tower  up  in  all  that  constitutes  womanly  nobil- 
ity.    r.^z''ii  =z  hoiv  in  the  tvorld?    An  intensive  form  of  the  word. 

8.  A  writing  that  is  written  in  the  name  of  the  king,  and  is  sealed 
with  the  king's  signet-ring  may  not  he  reversed  —  the  Persian  kings 
claimed  to  be  divine  ;  and  the  people  compelled  the  monarch  to  maintain 
such  a  state  as  they  thought  became  a  god.  "  He  was  required  to  live 
chiefly  in  seclusion  ;  to  eat  his  meals  for  the  most  part  alone ;  never  to 
go  on  foot  beyond  the  palace  walls;  never  to  revoke  an  order  once  given, 
however  much  he  might  regret  it ;  never  to  draw  back  from  a  promise, 
whatever  ill  results  he  might  anticipate  from  its  performance.  To 
maintain  the  quasi-divine  character  which  attached  to  him  it  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  seem  infallible,  immutable,  and  wholly  free  from 
the  weakness  of  repentance."     (Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon.,  iii.  225,  22G.) 

9.  And  the  scribes  —  this  is  the  longest  verse  in  the  Bible.     The 


Chap.  VIII.  9.]  ESTHER.  75 

in  the  tliiiJ  month,  that  is,  the  month  Sivan,  on  the  twenty- 
third  of  it  ;  and  it  was  written  according  to  all  that  Mordecai 
commanded,  to  the  Jews,  and  to  the  satraps,  and  the  pashas, 
and  princes  of  the  provinces  wliich  [extend]  from  India  to 
Ethiojjia,  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces,  —  to  each 
province  according  to  its  writing,  and  to  each  people  according 
to  its  tongue,  and  to  the  Jews  according  to  their  writing  and 
according  to  their  tongue. 

word  rendered  "scribe,"  "lEO ,  occurs  only  in  one  other  place  (iii.  12) 
in  this  book.  Among  the  Jews,  the  position  of  scribe  was  one  of 
great  importance.  Jonathan,  the  paternal  uncle  of  David  was  a  coun- 
sellor, a  wise  man,  and  a  scribe.  That  he  was  a  scribe  seems  to  have 
been  the  climax  of  honor.  Ezra  is  a  very  prominent  character  in 
Jewish  history,  and  is  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  the  "  scribe." 
Among  the  Persians,  the  honor  attaching  to  this  term  must  have  been 
even  greater  than  among  the  Jews,  because  fewer  of  the  people  in 
proportion  could  wield  the  pen.  The  Persian  writings  remaining  to 
us  are  found  only  in  cuneiform  inscriptions  cut  into  hard  material. 
They  are  rock  tablets,  in.scriptions  upon  stone  buildings,  and  mottoes 
or  legends  on  vases  and  fylinders.  There  is  no  doubt  that  besides 
these  cuneiform  characters  there  were  smaller  cursive  letters  which 
were  made  with  the  pen,  and  were  in  use  for  common  writing  upon 
parchment.  "  Ctesias  informs  us  that  the  royal  archives  were  written 
on  parchment ;  and  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  writing  was  an  art 
perfectly  familiar  to  the  educated  Persian."  (Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon., 
iii.  266.)  To  the  satraps,  pashas,  and  princes  of  the  provinces  — 
the  satraps,  Heb.  crS'^'ndnx ,  were  the  rulers  of  the  provinces,  aiid 
were  imperial  magistrates,  representing  the  king  in  the  provinces. 
Their  authority  was  purely  political  and  civil,  the  king  making  the 
military  commanders  always  amenable  to  himself.  The  number  of  the 
satraps  and  the  extent  of  their  jurisdiction  varied  at  different  times. 
(See  Lange's  Commentary  on  Daniel,  p.  139  ;  Herodotus,  iii.  89  ;  Raw- 
linson, Anc.  Mon.,  iii.  418 ;  Xenophon,  Cyropaedia,  viii.  6 ;  also  see 
on  iii.  12.)  The  pashas  —  Heb.  n-'ne ,  were  inferior  to  the  satraps. 
They  are  called  "  governors,"  "  captains,"  or  deputies,"  in  king  James's 
version.  At  the  time  of  Ezra,  Palestine  was  unde.  the  govern- 
ment of  a  pasha  (Ezra  viii.  36).  Sheshbazzar,  the  prince  of  Judah, 
was  appointed  by  Cyrus  the  nno ,  pasha,  of  Jerusalem  (Ezra  v.  14). 
"We  cannot  tell  just  the  nature  and  limits  of  their  authority,  only  that 


76  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VIII.  10. 

^^  And  lie  wrote  in  the  name  of  the  king  Xerxes,  and  sealed 
with  the  king's  signet-ring,  and  sent  the  letters  by  the  couriers 
upon  horses  —  the  riders  upon  coursers  and  mules  the  offspring 

it  was  civil  and  inferior  to  the  authority  of  the  satraps.  They  were 
imperial  officers  also.  Some  think  that  the  word  nra  is  derived  from 
pa,  foot,  basis,  or  support ;  and  shah,  ruler ;  it  being  implied  that  the 
pashas  were  the  support  of  the  king  or  ruler.  The  princes  of  the 
provinces  —  the  Hebrew  for  jjrinces,  Dinb ,  is  derived  from  -i~ia ,  to 
rule,  or  have  dominion  over.  The  C'l^  were  inferior  to  the  satraps 
and  the  pashas  ;  they  were  not  imperial  officers  sent  from  the  court,  but 
were  natives  clothed  with  a  degree  of  local  power  and  jurisdiction 
under  the  eyes  of  the  higher  imperial  magistrates.  According  to  their 
writing,  and  according  to  their  tongue  —  writing  means  the  written 
alphabet  of  the  people,  including  the  size  and  shape  of  the  letters,  the 
order  of  their  arrangement,  the  material  on  which  they  wrote,  etc. ;  the 
tongue  means  the  particular  dialect  or  speech  of  each  jiroviuce.  It 
might  have  been  translated  :  According  to  their  written  alphabet,  and 
their  speech,  or  spoken  dialect.  This  shows  how  great  pains  was  taken 
to  communicate  the  knowledge  of  the  decree. 

10.  He  wrote  in  the  name  of  the  king  Xerxes  —  what  unlimited 
power  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Mordecai !  He  could  write  what  he 
would,  affix  to  it  the  royal  seal,  and  it  would  become  the  law  of  the 
realm.  Haman  had  sought  to  destroy  the  people  of  God ;  but  his  plot 
had  been  turned  to  the  elevating  of  them  to  a  place  of  eminence  in  the 
nation.  Is  not  this  to  be  the  fate  of  all  evil  ?  Will  not  God  overrule 
it  for  good  ?  And  sealed  with  the  king's  signet-ring —  this  was  the 
signet-ring  which  the  king  had  removed  from  the  hand  of  Haman,  and 
put  u{)on  the  hand  of  Mordecai  (viii.  2).  Seals  were  in  ancient  Persia 
employed,  as  we  have  seen,  to  authenticate  public  documents.  They 
had  the  owner's  name  or  some  other  device  engraven  upon  them. 
Such  seals  were  made  of  burned  clay,  of  copper,  of  silver,  gold,  or 
often  of  precious  stones.  The  seal  was  often  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder, 
which  was  rolled  upon  the  moist  clay,  illustrating  the  words  of  Job, 
"it  is  turned  as  clay  to  the  seal"  (xxxviii.  14).  (See  notes  on  iii. 
10 ;  viii.  2  ;  also,  Excursus  on  Signet  Rings  and  Seals.)  By  the  hand  of 
—  this  expression  *i]a  means  what  we  express  by  the  preposition  hy. 
It  occurs  frequently  in  this  bool<  (i.  12  ;  i.  15  ;  iii.  13).  Couriers  —  the 
English  word  courier  is  from  the  Latin  currere,  to  run.  English  post 
is  first  the  stoj)ping-place,  then   the  couriers  who  stopped,  then  the 


Chap.  VIII.  11,  12]  ESTHER.  77 

of  mares  ;  "in  which  [letter.s]  the  king  granted  to  the  Jews 
who  were  in  any  city  : 

To  ASSEMBLE  AND  STAND  FOR  THEIR  LIVES  ;  TO  DESTROY,  TO 
KILL,  AND  TO  CAUSE  TO  PICRISH  ALL  THE  FORCE  OF  PEOPLE  AND 
PROVLNCE   ASSAIUNG   THEM  ;   [tO   DESTROY]  LITTLE   CHILDREN   AND 

WOMEN  ;    AND    [tAKE]    THEIR    PROPERTY   FOR    SPOIL, ^^  j^j   qnE 

DAY,   THROUGHOUT   ALL    THE    PROVINCES    OF  THE   KING   XeRXES  ; 

on  the  thirteenth  of  the  twelfth  month,  that  is,  the  month 
Adar. 

message  itself;  finally  the  manner  of  conveying  the  message.  A 
courier  is  a  runner.  The  Hebrew  word  Y^  means  to  run.  It  is  some- 
times used  figuratively :  "  that  he  may  run  (y^)  that  readeth,"  i.e.  may 
read  rapidly,  or  seem  to  run  over  the  page.  The  C'^S'n  were  servants 
that  ran  before  the  chariot  of  a  prince,  called  running  footmen.  They 
were  also  the  royal  messengers  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  times  of  the 
kings.  But  they  were  especially  the  mounted  state-messengers  of  the 
Persians.  They  carried  the  royal  edicts  to  the  provinces,  and  re- 
turned to  the  king  with  despatches  of  importance.  (See  Excursus  ou 
Couriers  ;  also,  on  "  Letters  and  Posts  of  the  Ancients.") 

11.  To  assemble  and  stand  for  their  lives  —  the  king  did  not 
reverse  his  decree  issued  for  the  total  destruction  of  the  Jews,  but 
he  simply  granted  them  the  privilege,  given  by  God  himself  to  all  his 
creatures,  of  self-defence.  The  king  saw  the  injustice  and  dreadful 
wrong  perpetrated  in  securing  the  decree  to  annihilate  the  Jewish 
people,  and  doubtless  he  meant  that  self-defence  should  now  receive  its 
utmost  latitude  of  interpretation.  (See  a  full  discussion  of  this  prin- 
ciple in  Discourses  on  the  Book  of  Esther,  by  the  Hebrew  Club: 
"  On  Self- Defence.")  The  decree  is  printed  in  the  text  al)ove  in  small 
capitals  ;  the  official  subscription  follows  in  italics. 

12.  On  one  day,  throughout  all  the  provinces  of  the  king  Xerxes 
—  the  slaughter  was  to  continue  but  one  day.  The  proeluuiatiou 
(iii.  13)  gave  authority  for  the  slaughter  of  the  Jews  only  on  the 
thirteenth  of  the  month  Adar.  Any  attempt  upon  their  lives  after 
that  would  be  unlawful.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  lives  of 
subjects  were  so  completely  in  the  hands  of  despotic  rulers  in  ancient 
Persia,  that  permission  must  be  given  by  royal  edict  for  men  to  defend 
themselves  against  violence  and  death.  "Were  it  not  for  this  edict  the 
Jews  would  have  been  expected  to'  be  passive  under  the  hand  of  the 
executioner.     What  a  cruel  oppressor  man  is  !     What  danger  in  irre- 


78  ESTHER.  [Chap.  VIII.  13-16. 

^^A  copy  of  the  writing  to  he  given  as  a  decree  in  every 
province,  published  to  all  the  peoples ;  even  for  the  Jeivs  to  be 
ready  on  that  day  to  be  avenged  on  their  enemies. 

1*  The  couriers  —  riders  upon  coursers  and  mules  —  went 
forth,  hastened  and  urged  on  by  the  word  of  the  king.  And 
the  decree  was  given  in  Shushan  the  castle. 

15  And  Mordecai  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  king  in 
royal  vesture  of  violet  and  white,  and  a  great  crown  of  gold, 
and  a  mantle  of  fine  linen  and  purple  ;  and  the  city  Shushan 
rejoiced  and  was  glad.     ^^  To  the  Jews  there  were  light  and 

sponsible  power  put  into  the  hands  of  men !  No  wonder  that  David 
said  :  "  Let  us  fall  now  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  for  his  mercies  are 
great;  and  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hand  of  man"  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  14). 
Hastened  and  urged  on  by  the  word  of  the  king — these  two  participles 
show  with  what  earnestness  and  resolution  the  king  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Jews.  When  the  edict  for  their  destruction  was  given 
(iii.  15),  we  were  told  that  "  the  couriers  went  forth,  pressed  on  by  the 
word  of  the  king,"  pjti'n ,  to  im(pel,  to  urge.  In  the  verse  before  us 
(viii.  14),  they  are  hastened  and  urged,  bria  ,  to  hasten,  and  Cin'i ,  to 
impel,  to  urge.  More  urgency  was  put  into  the  sending  forth  of  these 
second  messengers  than  had  attended  the  going  forth  of  the  first. 

15.  And  Mordecai  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  king,  etc.  — 
what  a  change  from  the  sackcloth  and  ashes  to  "  the  royal  vesture  of 
violet  and  white,  and  a  great  crown  of  gold,  and  a  mantle  of  fine  linen 
and  purple."  God  often  lifts  those  who  are  in  the  dust  to  places  of 
great  honor  and  power.  If  our  cause  is  just  and  right,  we  shall  not 
wait  long  before  help  will  come  from  on  high.  If  God  seems  to  delay, 
it  will  only  be  that  the  triumph  may  be  the  more  signal  when  it  comes. 
The  city  Shushan  rejoiced  and  was  glad  —  this  would  indicate  that 
the  people  of  Shushan,  who  were  now  almost  wholly  Persians,  sym- 
pathized with  the  Jews  both  in  their  sorrow  and  their  joy.  There 
were  many  things  in  the  religions  of  the  two  nations  that  were  in 
close  affinity,  many  things  in  their  character  and  habits  ;  so  that  God 
seems  to  have  laid  a  good  foundation  for  the  superstructure  of  Jewish 
elevation  which  was  soon  to  follow.  The  people  in  the  chief  city 
of  the  nation  were  their  friends.  The  Jews  by  their  more  pure  and 
elevated  character  seem  to  have  made  friends  among  the  various 
peoples  wherever  their  lot  was  cast. 


Chap.  VIII.  17-IX.  1.]  ESTHER.  79 

gladness,  and  joj'  and  honor.  ^'  And  in  e%'ery  province  and  in 
every  city  whithersoever  the  word  of  the  kin<^  and  his  decree 
came,  tliere  were  joy  and  gladness  to  the  Jews,  a  banquet  and 
a  good  day.  And  many  from  tlie  j^oples  of  the  land  became 
Jews ;  for  the  fear  of  the  Jews  fell  upon  them. 

IX.    1  Then  in  the  twelfth  month,  that  is,  the  month  Adar, 
on  the  thirteenth  day  of  it,  when  the  word  of  the  king  and  h\s 


17.  And  many  from  the  peoples  of  the  land  "became  Jews  —  not  a 

very  commendable  motive  prevailed  upon  them  :  "  for  the  fear  of  the 
Jews  fell  upoQ  them."  Fear  is  a  true  and  worthy  motive,  however,  if 
not  abused.  It  should  always  have  an  inferior  place  in  influencing 
intelligent,  voluntary  beings.  If  it  had  been  said  that  "  many  became 
Jews  "  because  they  were  convinced  that  the  Jews  were  a  nobler  people 
in  their  life  and  character,  their  religion  and  hopes;  or  because  they 
thought  their  cause  a  just  one;  or  because  they  desired  to  express 
their  hatred  of  the  policy  that  had  sought  the  destruction  of  three 
millions  of  innocent  subjects,  we  should  hold  them  in  higher  estf-em, 
The  same  principle  holds  now  in  regard  to  the  conversion  of  souls  from 
the  world,  to  the  life,  fellowship,  and  service  of  God.  Men  may  turn 
from  the  service  of  the  world  and  sin,  through  year  of  the  consequences 
of  such  a  course.  The  end  will  be  bad,  and  they  will  flee  from  it. 
Such  persons  often  come  into  the  life  of  God,  walk  in  heavenly  places 
here,  and  enter  into  joy  hereafter.  But  ^ear  is  not  the  noblest  motive 
by  which  to  influence  a  soul  to  choose  God  and  eternal  glory.  How 
much  better  to  yield  to  the  love  of  God,  or  be  drawn  by  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  virtue  or  holiness,  or  the  l>eauty  and  loveliness  of  Christl 
The  man  who  says  he  will  follow  and  serve  God  because  such  a  life  is 
right,  because  it  is  a  duty  that  he  owes  to  the  Author  of  all  good,  often 
becomes  one  of  the  truest  and  most  eflScient  workers  for  God  ;  yet 
there  is  no  power  like  love  to  lift  one  out  of  self  and  set  him  on  the  high 
places  of  the  spiritual  kingdom.  Where  fear  is  the  predominant  motive 
in  the  beginning  of  a  life  with  the  people  of  God,  it  is  apt  soon  to  relax, 
and  the  fervor  dies,  and  the  life  languishes  or  becomes  extinct. 

Chap.  IX.  1.  And  in  the  twelfth  month  —  it  would  appear  from 
this  that  nearly  nine  months  intervened  between  the  issuing  of  the  decree 
for  the  saving  of  the  Jews  and  the  time  appointed  for  their  destruc- 
tion (viii.  9).     This  would  give  tlie  Jews  ample  time  to  complete  all 


80  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IX.  2, 3. 

decree  came  to  be  executed;  on" the  day  when  the  enemies 
of  the  Jews  ex})ected  to  have  dominion  over  them  (but 
it  was  turned,  so  that  the  Jews  themselves  had  dominion 
over  those  who  hated  them)  ^the  Jews  assembled  in  their 
cities  throughout  all  the  provinces  of  the  king  Xerxes  to  lay 
hands  on  those  who  sought  their  harm.  And  not  a  man 
stood  in  the  face  of  them  ;  for  the  fear  of  them  fell  upon  all 
the  peoples. 

3  And  all  the  princes  of  the  provinces,  and  the  satraps,  and 

their  arrangements  for  self-defence.  Just  eleven  mojiths  intervened 
between  the  giving  of  the  destructive  decree  (iii.  12),  and  the  time  for 
its  execution  (iii.  13).  This  shows  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  provi- 
dence of  God  in  the  care  of  his  people.  In  the  first  month,  the  thir- 
teenth day  of  it,  the  decree  went  forth  for'  the  destruction  of  all  the 
Jews  (iii.  12)  ;  in  the  third  month,  twenty-third  day,  the  decree  permit- 
ting the  Jews  to  stand  in  self-defence  was  sent  forth  (viii.  9)  ;  in  the 
twelfth  month,  the  tliirteenth  day,  came  the  dreadful  work  of  slaughter 
(ix.  1 ) .  But  it  was  turned,  so  "that  the  Jews  themselves  had  dominion 
over  those  who  hated  them  —  God  often  reverses  the  most  skilfully 
laid  plans  of  the  enemies  of  his  people.  "  He  putteth  down  one,  and 
setteth  up  another"  (Ps.  Ixxv.  7).  Men  may  not  see  the  real  agent 
in  the  work  ;  they  may  make  the  cause  impersonal,  and  say,  "  it  was 
turned,"  when  finally  they  will  see  that  "  God  turned  it  so  that,"  etc. 

2.  The  Jews  assembled  in  their  cities  —  what  a  day  that  must  liave 
been  to  the  Jewish  people  !  "What  prayer  was  offered  that  morning, 
and  during  the  days  previous  !  They  stood  simply  on  the  defensive 
as  the  words  show  :  "  to  lay  hands  on  those  who  sought  their  harm." 
Not  a  man  stood  in  the  face  of  them  —  with  God  and  right  on  their 
side  the  Jews  were  mightier  than  the  mightiest  of  their  foes.  This  is 
true  in  any  cause.  The  word  "  stood  "  means  successfully  stood.  We 
know  that  many  did  attack  the  Jews  and  seek  to  destroy  them,  but  not 
one  of  them  killed  his  man.  God  prepared  the  way  for  this  victory 
by  inspiring  all  the  peoples  with  fear  and  dread  of  those  who  were 
manifestly  the  people  of  God. 

3.  What  an  illustration  this  verse  furnishes  of  the  Saviour's  words : 
"To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given  and  he  shall  have  abundance." 
When  the  Jews  were  friendless,  "  none  so  poor  as  to  do  them  rever- 
ence " ;  but  now  that  the  king  is  on  their  side  multitudes  flock  to  their 


Chap.  IX.  4-9. J  ESTHER.  81 

pashas,  and  tlie  managers  of  the  king's  business,  helped  the 
Jews  ;  for  the  fear  of  Mordecai  fell  upon  them.  •*  For  Mor- 
decai  was  great  in  the  king's  house,  and  his  fame  went  into  all 
the  provinces  ;  and  the  man  Mordecai  became  greater  and 
greater. 

^  And  the  Jews  smote  all  their  enemies  with  the  stroke  of  the 
sword,  and  slaughter  and  destruction.  And  they  did  according 
to  their  pleasure  to  those  who  hated  them.  ^And  in  Shushan 
the  castle  the  Jews  slew  and  caused  to  perish  five  hundred 
men  ;  '  and  Parshandatha  and  Dalphon  and  Aspatha,  ^  and 
Poratha  and  Adalia  and  Aridatha,  ^  and  Parmashta  and  Arisai 

standard.  This  is  human  nature  as  truly  to-day  as  it  was  five  hundred 
years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.     Managers  of,  etc.  —  See  on  iii.  9. 

4.  The  English  word  fame  means  what  is  said  about  one;  from  the 
Latin  for,  Greek  t}>r]fxi  In  Hebrew  the  word  rrr  (rendered  fame) 
means  that  which  is  heard  about  one.  It  is  the  same  idea,  only  viewed 
in  the  one  case  from  the  point  of  the  speaker,  in  the  other  from  the 
point  of  the  hearer. 

5.  And  the  Jews  smote  all  their  enemies  —  we  need  to  keep  in 
mind  tliat  the  Jews  stood  strictly  on  the  defensive  (viii.  11).  The 
record  shows  that  they  made  no  attack  on  any,  but  simply  repelled 
the  violence  of  them  who  sought  to  destroy  them. 

6.  In  Shushan  the  castle  the  Jews  slew  and  caused  to  perish  five 
hundred  men  —  this  is  not  an  incredibly  large  numter  when  we 
remember  that  the  estimated  population  of  Shushan  at  the  time  of 
which  we  speak  was  half  a  million.  (Keil's  Commentary  on  the  Book 
of  Esther,  p.  309).  It  shows  too  how  furiously  their  .enemies  attacked 
them  ;  and  that  had  self-defence  been  denied  the  Jews  they  would  have 
been  exterminated  as  a  people. 

7-9.  Here  we  have  the  names  of  the  ten  sons  of  Haman.  Canon 
Rawlinson  tells  us  that  "  excepting  Adalia  they  were  all  readily  trace- 
able to  Old  Persian  roots."  Bishop  "Wordsworth  says  :  "  The  names 
of  the  ten  sons  of  Haman  were  written  in  the  Hebrew  manuscripts  of 
this  book  in  compact  perpendicular  columns,  as  if  they  were  hanging 
one  over  another  ;  and  the  reader  of  this  book  in  the  synagogue  is 
required  to  pronounce  all  the  names  at  one  breath.  The  Targum  says 
that  they  were  all  suspended  in  one  line,  at  stated  intervals,  one  above 
the  other  "  (Wordsworth's  Commentary  on  Esther,  p.  382). 
11 


g2  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IX.  10-12. 

and  Aridai,  and  Vajezatha,  ^'^  the  ten  sons  of  Haman,  the  son 
of  Hammedatha,  the  adversary  of  the  Jews,  they  slew  ;  but  on 
the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hands. 

11  On  that  very  day  the  number  of  those  slain  in  Shushan 
the  castle  came  before  the  king.  ^^  And  the  king  said  to 
Esther  the  queen  :  In  Shushan  the  castle  the  Jews  have  slain 
and  caused  to  perish  five  hundred  men  and  the  ten  sons  of 
Haman  ;  in  the  rest  of  the  king's  domains  what  liave  they 
done  ?  And  what  is  tliy  petition  ?  and  it  shall  be  granted 
thee  ;  and  what  is  thy  request  further  ?  and  it  shall  be 
performed. 

10.  But  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hands  —  this  shows  the 
magnanimity  and  unselfishness  of  the  Jews.  According  to  the  decree 
(viii.  11)  the  Jews  wei-e  allowed  "to  take  the  spoil  of  them  for 
booty";  btit  three  times  it  is  recorded  (ix.  10,  15,  16)  that  "on  the 
spoil  they  laid  not  their  hands."  They  were  allowed  also  "  to  destroy, 
to  kill,  and  cause  to  perish  little  children  and  women,"  as  well  as  "  the 
force,"  i.e.  the  military  force,  of  the  people ;  but  the  record  expressly 
declares  that  they  put  to  death  only  men  (i23''K,  ix.  6,  12,  15).  We 
can  see  how  this  would  come  out  of  the  fact  that  the  Jews  stood  on  the 
defensive,  and  that  only  the  armed  force  of  the  people,  i.e.  the  men, 
would  be  the  assailants.  The  Jews  may  also  have  fought  behind  forti- 
fications, and  thus  have  been  protected.  "We  have  no  evidence  that 
the  Jews  had  any  desire  to  destroy  the  women  and  children.  It  was 
the  edict  of  the  heathen  king,  the  counterpart  of  his  previous  decree 
(iii.  13),  which  gave  them  the  liberty.  But  they  were  the  people  of 
God,  and  as  such  morally  far  above  their  oppressors.  The  Jews 
acquired  no  moral  right  to  the  property  of  the  men  whom  they  slew. 
The  wives  and  children  of  the  slain  men  needed  the  property  all  the 
more  that  the  husband  and  father  had  been  taken  from  them.  It  was 
not  plunder  that  the  Jews  sought,  but  self-protection,  the  right  to  exist 
unmolested. 

11.  Here  we  see  the  dispatch  with  which  the  information  was 
collected,  as  well  as  the  general  interest  felt  in  it. 

12.  The  king  is  disposed  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  relief  of  the 
imperilled  Jews.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  cherished  ill-will 
towards  them.  lie  was  simply  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the 
wicked  Haman.     Now  he  becomes  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  those 


Chap.  IX.  13-16.]  ESTHER.  88 

13  And  Esther  said  :  If  it  seem  good  to  the  king,  let  it  be 
granted  to  the  Jews  who  are  in  Shushan  to  do  to-morrow  also 
according  to  the  decree  of  this  day  ;  and  let  the  ten  sons  of 
Haman  be  impaled  upon  the  tree. 

"  And  the  king  commanded  it  to  be  so  done  ;  and  the  decree 
was  given  in  Shushan  ;  and  the  ten  sons  of  Haman  were  im- 
paled. 

1^  And  the  Jews  who  were  in  Shushan  assembled  also  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  and  slew  in  Shushan  three 
hundred  men  ;  but  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hands. 

16  But  the  remainder  of  the  Jews  who  were  in  the  king's 

who  seek  to  save  the  people  of  God.  This  verse  is  important  as  show- 
ing that  the  idea  of  further  slaughter  originated  not  with  Esther,  but 
rather  with  the  king  himself.  lie  suggests  here  that  something  more 
is  needed,  and  asks  what  it  shall  be. 

13.  This  is  not  so  much  Esther's  counsel,  as  the  counsel  of  those 
Jews  who  understood  the  situation  and  could  tell  from  a  statesman's 
point  of  view  what  was  needed.  There  was  no  thirst  for  blood  in 
Esther's  heart.  Her  whole  character  as  delineated  in  this  book  is 
averse  to  this ;  but  she  was  made  of  stuff  stern  enough  to  demand  fur- 
ther bloodshed  if  it  were  needed  to  stay  the  unrighteous  blotting  out  of 
her  people  and  God's  church.  This  verse  also  shows  that  the  right 
of  self-defence  was  granted  the  Jews  only  as  a  special  favor.  There 
could  be  nothing  wrong  in  asking  that  the  privilege  of  self-defence 
might  extend  over  all  the  days  of  the  king's  reign.  It  is  what  subjects 
in  all  Christian  civilized  society  enjoy.  As  to  impaling  Haman's  sons, 
that  was  intended  to  strike  terror  into  the  adversaries  of  the  Jews. 
Nothing  could  have  been  better  fitted  to  check  the  work  of  slaughter. 
They  had  been  slain  ;  now  let  them  be  hung  up  as  a  warning  to  all 
who  had  their  spirit,  and  were  doing  their  fell  work.  These  sons  seem 
to  have  had  the.  spirit  and  purpose  of  their  father,  to  "  kill,  destroy,  and 
cause  to  perish  "  all  the  Jews.  Doubtless  Esther  made  this  request  at 
the  prompting  of  Mordecai  and  such  wise  Jews  as  were  in  conference 
with  hira. 

15.  And  slew  in  Shushan  three  hundred  men —  it  appears  then 
that  the  whole  number  slain  by  the  Jews  in  Shushan  was  only  eight 
hundred. 

16.  In  all  the  provinces,  with  an  estimated  population  of  one  hundred 


84  ESTHER.  IChap.  IX.  17-20. 

provinces  assembled,  and  stood  for  their  lives,  and  rested  from 
their  enemies  ;  and  slew  of  those  who  hated  them  seventy-five 
thousand  (but  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hands)  i"  on  the 
thirteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  ;  and  they  rested  on  the 
fourteenth  of  it,  and  mgde  it  a  day  of  feasting  and  gladness. 

^^  But  the  Jews  who  were  in  Shushan  assembled  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  it  and  on  the  fourteenth  of  it,  but  rested  on  the 
fifteentli  of  it,  and  made  it  a  day  of  feasting  and  gladness. 
1^  Therefore  the  provincial  Jews  who  dwelt  in  the  country 
towns  were  making  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Adar  a  rejoic- 
ing and  a  feasting,  and  a  day  of  gladness  and  of  sending  portions, 
every  one  to  liis  neighbor. 

-°  And  Mordecai  wrote  these  things  and  sent  letters  to  all 

millions,  seventy-five  thousand  of  the  Jews'  enemies  vpere  slam.  There 
is  no  mention  of  the  killing  of  even  one  Jew.  Perhaps  a  remarkable 
providence  preserved  at  this,  as  at  other  times  of  danger,  the  people  of 
God.  Possibly  here,  as  occurs  often  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  only  the 
number  of  enemies  who  were  'slain  is  given  ;  no  mention  being  made 
'  of  the  loss  of  the  victors.  The  Septuagint  says  that  fifteen  thousand 
was  the  number  slain  by  the  Jews.  The  larger  number  seems  the 
more  probable. 

18.  But  rested  on  the  fifteenth  —  the  word  n'^i  is  not  the  word 
which  means  the  Sabbath  rest;  it  means  primarily  to  take  breath; 
then  it  means  to  have  rest,  as  from  vexation,  trouble,  calamity,  anxiety. 
No  words  can  describe  the  solicitude  and  fear  which  must  have  filled 
the  Jews  in  anticipation  of  the  dreadful  day  fixed  upon  for  their  destruc- 
tion. But  now  it  was  all  over  ;  God  had  appeared  as  their  helper,  and 
their  troubles  were  at  an  end.  Sweet  deliverance  and  rest  were  now 
their  portion.  In  commemoration  of  their  happy  state  on  this  day,  they 
make  it  a  day  of  "  feasting  and  gladness."  They  did  not  celebrate  the 
-slaughter.  There  was  no  reminder  of  the  day  on  which  the  destruction 
of  their  enemies  occurred  ;  but  the  days  on  which  rest  and  quiet  came 
to  them  had  a  lasting  memorial.  Even  now  the  Jews  signalize  those 
as  the  red-letter  days  in  their  calendar. 

19-22.  In  order  to  secure  throughout  the  kingdom  uniforniity  in 
the  celebration  of  the  Purim  festival,  Mordecai  wrote  letters  to  all  the 
■j)rovince8,  enjoining  upon  the  Jews  to  make  both  the  fourteenth  and 
the  fifteenth  days  of  the  month  Adar  seasons  of  rejoicing  and  festivity. 


Chap.  IX.  21-24.]  ESTHER.  85 

the  Jews,  tlie  near  and  the  distant,  who  were  in  all  the  prov- 
inces of  the  kin<r  Xerxes,  '-^^  to  enjohi  upon  them  to  celel»rate 
the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  and  the  fifteenth  day  of 
it  every  year,  22  as  the  days  on  which  the  Jews  rested  from 
their  enemies,  and  the  month  which  was  turned  to  them  from 
sorrow  to  gladness,  and  from  mourning  to  a  good  day  ;  in 
order  to  make  them  days  of  feasting  and  gladness,  and  of 
sending  portions,  every  one  to  his  neighbor,  and  gifts  to  the 
needy. 

'•^  And  the  Jews  adopted  what  they  had  begun  to  do  and 
what  Mordecai  had  written  to  them.  ^4  gec^ygg  Haman,  the 
son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  the  adversary  of  all  the 
Jews,  had  plotted  against  the  Jews  to  destroy  them,  and  had 
cast  Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  to  consume  and  exterminate  them. 

This  shows  a  tender  regard  for  the  people  on  the  part  of  the  prime 
minister.  A  holiday  was  a  godsend  to  them.  He  did  not  seek  to  grind 
the  faces  of  the  poor,  to  rob  them  of  privileges  and  opportunities  ;  but 
he  did  all  in  his  power  to  multiply  favors  to  them.  The  festival  was 
probably  called  Purim,  i.e.  lots,  in  irony,  as  setting  off  in  derisive  speech 
the  superstitious  carefulness  with  which  Haman  had  used  lots  to  bring 
about  their  destruction.  Many  of  the  proudest  names  in  the  history 
of  the  church  have  had  a  similar  origin,  e.g.  Methodist,  Puritan,  and 
probably  the  word  Jew  itself. 

23.  And  the  Jews  adopted  —  iap  means  to  receive,  admit,  or  adopt. 
Here  it  means  that  the  Jews  accepted  and  made  as  a  law  to  govern 
them  in  all  their  future  conduct,  what  Mordecai  had  written  to  them. 
Previously  they  had  begun  to  observe  the  fourteenth  day  as  a  time  of 
gladness  and  rejoicing.  This  seems  to  have  been  in  obedience  to  a 
previous  decree.  But  now,  when  Mordecai  wrote  to  them,  they  also 
observed  the  fifteenth  day.  How  much  is  implied  in  the  word  bs;? , 
"  adopted,"  we,  cannot  tell.  "Whether  anything  is  meant  more  than 
that  they  acquiesced  in  the  appointment  of  Mordecai  is  uncertain.  "We 
have  no  knowledge  of  national  or  legislative  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Jews  in  their  captivity. 

24.  The  lot  —  the /o<  has  performed  an  important  part  in  human 
history.  The  promised  land  was  divided  among  the  twelve  tribes  by 
lot  (Num.  xxvi.  00)  ;  Haman  cast  lots  for  a  day  on  which  to  exter- 
minate the  Jews  ;  the  crucifiers  of  Christ  cast  lots  before  the  cross 


gg  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IX.  25-27. 

-•5  But  when  it  came  before  the  king  he  commanded,  by  tlie 
letters,  that  his  wicked  device  which  he  had  devised  against 
the  Jews  should  return  upon  his  own  head  ;  and  they  impaled 
him  and  his  sons  upon  the  tree.  ^6  Therefore  they  called  these 
days  Purim,  after  the  name  Pur. 

Now  because  of  all  the  words  of  this  letter,  and  of  what  they 
had  seen  concerning  the  matter,  and  what  had  come  to  them, 
2'  the  Jews  ordained,  and  took  upon  themselves,  and  upon  their 
children,  and  upon  all  who  should  join  themselves  to  them, 

upon  his  raiment  (Matt,  xxvii.  35)  ;  the  apostles  cast  lots  for  a  suc- 
cessor to  Judas  (Acts  i.  26).  The  lot  is  an  appeal  to  G()d,  that  he  will 
determine  for  us  what  our  own  wisdom  or  diligence  cannot  decide. 
The  lot  should  not  be  resorted  to  on  trivial  occasions,  or  when  our  own 
efforts  can  solve  the  difficulty.  The  word  b'ia  means  a  small  stone,  or 
pebble,  such  as  was  used  in  casting  lots.  Then  it  means  that  which 
falls  to  one  as  his  portion,  or  share,  or  fate,  as  decided  by  the  lot.  The 
Ent^lish  word  '"lot"  means  part  or  portion,  and  seems  to  carry  the 
idea  that  our  destiuies  are  put  into  the  box,  and  God  chooses  out  the 
one  suited  to  each  individual. 

25.  But  when  it  came  before  the  king  —  the  A.V.  supplies  the 
word  Esther  as  the  subject  of  the  verb  N3,  which  word  has  not  occurred 
since  ver.  13.  There  is  no  authority  for  this.  The  Hebrew  is  plain  : 
in  the  coming  of  it  {i.e.  the  matter  of  destroying  the  Jews)  before  the 
king,  he  commanded,  etc.  The  word  K3  is  in  the  construct  infinitive, 
governed  by  the  preceding  3 ,  and  the  suffix  n-  is  its  subject.  The 
substance  of  the  king's  command  is  :  that  his  wicked  device  which  he 
had  devised  against  the  Jews  should  return  upon  his  own  head.  The 
next  clause  is  not  a  part  of  the  king's  command,  but  a  fact  added  by 
the  historian. 

26.  Purim  —  as  to  the  origin  and  meaning  of  this  word,  see  note  on 
iii.  7  ;  and  as  to  the  festival  itself,  see  Discourse  on  the  "  Feast  of 
Purim."  The  first  ^^  ^?  is  causative,  introducing  the  reason  why  the 
Jews  "called  these  days  Purim."  The  second  "ja  hv  introduces  an 
inference  or  explanation,  like  the  English  now  in  "  now  Barabbas  was 
a  robber"  (John  xviii.  40). 

27.  We  see  in  this  verse  a  remarkable  instance  of  national  solidarity. 
The  Jewish  nation,  in  its  present  and  prospective  members,  was  one 
community.  One  life,  one  interest,  one  fate,  has  awaited  that  people 
wherever  they  have  lived.     In  many  respects  the  Jews  are  the  most 


CriAP.  IX.  23, 29.]  ESTHER.  87 

wiiliout  fail  to  keep  these  two  days,  according  to  the  writing 
in  respect  to  them,  and  accoi-ding  to  the  time  appointed  for 
tliem  eacli  year  ;  ''^that  these  days  sliould  be  remembered  and 
kept  in  every  generation,  every  family,  every  province,  and 
every  city  ;  and  that  these  days  of  Purim  should  not  fail  from 
the  midst  of  the  Jews,  nor  the  memorial  of  them  perish  from 
their  race. 

'^^  Then  wrote  E.^^ther  tiie  queen,  the  daughter  of  Abiliail, 
and  Mordecai  the  Jew,  with   all    authority,  to  establish   this 

remarkable  people  that  have  ever  lived  upon  the  earth  ;  and  the  cause 
of  it,  humanly  speaking,  is  their  national  unity.  The  Jews  in  the  timfe 
of  Esther  pledged  themselves  and  their  successors  to  a  specific  course  of 
action.  They  did  it  not  from  low,  selfish,  worldly  considerations,  but 
out  of  regard  to  God  and  the  interests  of  religion.  Their  children 
have  accepted  the  action  of  their  ancestors  as  their  own,  and  faithfully 
complied  with  all  its  requisitions.  Such  a  national  unity  as  this  can- 
not but  be  most  powerful  in  moulding  and  shaping  the  character  and 
destiny  of  a  nation.  The  Jews,  though  they  have  been  scattered  to 
the  four  winds  and  oppressed  beyond  measure,  are  still  a  mighty  and 
unified  people,  their  hearts  throbbing  with  one  life-current,  and  th6ir 
wills  subject  to  one  Lord  and  King.  National  unity  founded  in  reli- 
gion finds  a  signal  illustration  in  the  Jews. 

29.  This  second  letter  of  Purim  —  here  we  have  an  added  fact 
with  respect  to  the  riuim  festival.  The  dangers  and  trials,  the  perils 
and  agonies,  through  which^  Esther  had  passed  in  rescuing  her  people 
from  the  jaws  of  the  more  than  fierce  lion,  she  would  not  allow  to  pass 
into  oblivion.  As  a  reminder  of  these  dangers  she  wrote  another 
letter,  Mordecai  approving  and  with  the  great  seal  authorizing  it,  and 
sent  it  to  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces.  This  letter  is 
called  the  second,  the  one  mentioned  in  verse  20  of  this  chapter  being 
considered  the  Jirst.  This  second  letter  appointed  •' fasting  and  cry- 
ing" as  a  part  of  the  Purim  festival.  The  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
days  of  the  month  Adar  were  to  be  days  of  joy  and  gladness.  Just 
when  the  fasting  and  crying  were  to  occur  we  are  not  told  in  the 
text;  but  the  facts  that  the  modern  Jews  observe  the  day  which 
Haman  had  fixed  upon  for  the  extermination  of  the  Jews,  i.e.  the  thir- 
teenth of  Adar,  and  the  reasonableness  of  it,  make  it  very  probable 
that  the  thirteenth  of  Adar  was  the  day  for  expressions  of  sorrow 
and  mourning,  while   the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth    that   immediately 


88  ESTHER.  [Chap.  IX.  30,  .31. 

second  letter  of  Purim.  ^o  ^j^j  i^g  g^i^t  letters  to  all  the  Jews, 
to  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces  of  the  kingdom  of 
Xerxes,  messages  of  peace  and  truth,  ^^  to  ordain  these  days  of 
Purim  in  their  appointed  seasons,  according  as  Mordecai  the 
Jew  and  Esther  the  queen  had  enjoined  upon  them,  and  as 
they  had  ordained  for  themselves  and  for  their  children  the 

followed  were  days  of  unbounded  Joy.  "We  can  see  how  this  would 
keep  the  whole  matter  of  their  danger  and  deliverance  most  vividly 
before  them,  and  thus  preserve,  in  the  national  heart,  gratitude  to 
God  the  great  deliverer.  Days  of  fasting  and  prayer,  Immiliation 
and  sorrow,  are  a  good  preparation  for  seasons  of  feasting  and  ghid- 
ness. 

30.  And  he  sent  letters  —  Estlier  was  the  author  of  the  letter,  but 
Mordecai  as  the  grand  vizier  gave  it  its  legal  authority  and  stump,  and 
sent  it  forth  into  the  provinces.  Messages  of  peace  and  truth  —  this 
letter  was  not  a  summons  to  battle ;  it  did  not  prescribe  methods  for 
slaughter  and  bloodshed  ;  but  it  went  forth  as  the  herald  of  peace  and 
the  harbinger  of  truth.  Fasting  and  prayer,  humiliation  before  God 
and  contrition  for  our  sins,  are  among  the  best  promoters  of  peace  and 
discoverers  of  truth.  The  first  meaning  of  nrx  is  firmness  or  stability, 
i.e.  the  truth  is  the  firm  and  abiding  thing. 

31.  As  they  had  ordained  for  themselves  and  for  their  children  — 
lo*p  means  to  confirm  or  establish.  The  same  verb,  in  the  Piel  con- 
jugation, in  the  earlier  parts  of  this  verse  is  rendered  "to  ordain" 
and  "  had  enjoined."  '{>21  is  a  stated  or  appointed  time,  such  as  the 
regular  sacred  seasons  or  festivals.  In  the  A.V.  the  word  appointed 
is  erroneously  printed  in  italics,  as  if  it  was  a  word  supplied.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  perfect  unanimity  of  sentiment  between  Esther 
and  Mordecai  on  the  one  hand,  and  between  them  and  the  Jewish 
people  on  the  other,  as  to  the  whole  matter  of  the  Purim  festival.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the  idea  of  a  time  for  "fasting  and  crying"  — 
Hebrew,  fastings  and  their  crying  —  as  commemorating  the  fastings  of 
Esther  before  going  to  the  king,  had  occurred  to  the  people,  and  been 
observed  by  them,  before  Esther  proposed  it.  orT??.!'  r'iisian  i*2'n 
implies  that  the  people  talked  about  this  matter  and  expressed  them- 
selves freely  on  it,  even  before  Esther  and  Mordecai  took  it  up.  It 
would  be  a  natural  expression  of  gratitude  from  the  popular  heart 
after  so  great  a  deliverance.  Wherever  it  had  its  origin  it  was  fixed 
"  with  all  authority,"  i.e.  with  all  the  strength  and  force  of  law. 


Chap.  IX.  32-X.  1.]  ESTHER.  89 

matters  of  the  fa.sting  and  crying.  ^  And  tlie  edict  of  Esther 
established  tlicse  matters  of  Purim  ;  and  it  was  wiitten  in  the 
book. 

X.  i  And  tlie  king  Xerxes  laid  a  tribute  upon  the  land  and 

32.  The  edict  of  Esther  —  this  edict,  contained  in  ver.  29-31,  is 
the  comiuaiul  to  observe  a  season  of  "fasting  and  crying"  as  a  part  of 
the  Purim  festival.  It  is  called  Esther's  edict  as  lu'Ing  in  licr  lidiior, 
and  as  having  officially  originated  with  her.  Written  in  the  book  — 
i.e.  the  book  of  the  records  of  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia.  This 
is  another  way  of  saying  that  these  matters  were  decreed  and  recorded, 
so  that  they  became  in  the  highest  sense  official.  Keil  says  :  ""lESn, 
the  book  in  which  this  decree  was  written,  cannot  mean  the  writing  of 
Esther  mentioned  in  ver.  29,  but  some  written  document  concerning 
Purim  which  has  not  come  dowu  to  us,  though  used  as  an  authority  by 
the  author  of  the  present  book."  (Keil's  Commentary  on  the  Book 
of  Esther,  p.  378.)  Bishop  "Wordsworth  says  :  "  It  was  written  in 
the  book  which  the  reader  has  now  before  him."  (Wordsworth's  Com- 
mentary on  Esther,  p.  384.)  He  quotes  Serarius,  Havernick,  and  Dr. 
Pusey,  as  holding  the  same  view.  Professor  Schultz,  in  Lange's  series, 
says  :  "  It  was  written  in  the  book  indicated  in  v.  20,  in  which  Mor- 
decai  wrote  concerning  these  events,  and  which  is  not  identical  with 
our  Esther-book,  but  may  have  served  as  one  of  its  sources."  (Lange 
on  Esther,  p.  92.)  Bertheau  says:  "A  writing  on  the  special  subject 
of  the  Purim  festival,  which  has  been  lost."  Canon  Rawlinson  says: 
"  the  book  of  the  chronicles  of  the  king's  of  Media  and  Persia."  (The 
Bible  Commentary  on  Esther,  p.  407.) 

Chap.  X.  1.  Laid  a  tribute  upon  the  land  and  the  islands  of  the  sea 
—  this  was  made  necessary  by  the  exhaustive  drain  upon  the  exchequer 
which  the  Grecian  expedition  had  made.  D^  means  tribute-service,  i.e. 
tribute  to  be  rendered  by  personal  service  in  the  army  or  on  the  public 
works.  Solomon  made  such  a  levy  (1  Kings  v.  13).  Joshua  also  ex- 
actefl  such  a  tribute-service  of  the  Canaanites  (Josh.  xvii.  13).  The 
word  CO  means  also  taxes  in  a  general  sense,  such  as  money,  pro- 
duce, or  anything  for  the  support  of  the  government  (1  Khigs  xii.  18  ; 
2  Chron.  viii.  8  ;  2  Sam.  xx.  24  ;  see  Excursus  on  Tribute).  Al- 
though as  one  result  of  his  Grecian  expedition  Xerxes  had  lust  the 
islands  of  the  Aegean  sea,  yet  he  would  be  unwilling  to  confess  it,  and 
he  would  doubtless  lay  a  tax  on  them.  It  is  always  easier  to  impose 
taxes  than  it  is  to  collect  them. 
12 


90  ESTHER.  [Chap.  X.  2, 3. 

the  islands  of  the  sea.  ^^^(j  qH  the  deeds  of  his  power  and 
his  might,  and  the  declaration  of  the  greatness  of  Mordecai  to 
which  the  king  advanced  him,  are  they  not  written  in  the  book 
of  the  chronicles  of  the  king  of  Media  and  Persia  ?     ^  Por  Mor- 

2,  3.  In  these  verses  is  set  forth  the  greatness  of  Xerxes  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  to  what  an  elevation  Mordecai,  as  the  head  and 
representative  of  the  Jewish  nation,  had  been  raised.  The  book 
opened  with  the  almost  total  obscuration  of  God's  people  ;  it  closes 
with  them  as  the  brightest  star  in  the  galaxy  of  nations  which  composed 
this  great  kingdom.  Thus  the  providence  of  God  is  the  more  manifest 
in  caring  foi',  delivering,  and  promoting  them  who  trust  and  love  him. 
Book  of  the  chronicles  —  i.e.  the  book  which  contained  the  record  of 
all  state  and  official  matters.  Probably  the  Book  of  Esther,  as  we  have 
it,  was  to  some  extent  copied  from  that  "  book  of  chronicles."  The 
omission  of  the  name  of  God  from  the  book,  and  of  the  mention  of 
such  religious  practices  as  were  distinctively  Jewish,  can  be  exj^lained 
upon  this  hypothesis.  Media  and  Persia  —  these  words  occur  five 
times  in  this  book  ;  in  four  of  which  they  stand  as  Persia  and  Media 
(Esther  i.  3, 14, 18, 19).  The  Cixplanation  is  that  the  Median  supremacy 
antedated  the  Persian,  and  in  the  "  book  of  chronicles  "  Media  stood 
first ;  but  the  common  parlance  and  correspondence  of  Xerxes'  day, 
when  the  Persians  were  the  dominant  nation,  reversed  the  official  order, 
as  we  find  it  four  times  in  chapter  i.  In  that  chapter  we  have  popular 
history ;  in  chapter  x.  we  have  official  record  (see  Tyrwhitt's  Esther 
and  Ahasuerus,  Vol.  i.  15,  16).  In  the  book  of  Daniel,  which  antedates 
the  book  of  Esther  by  a  century  or  more,  the  Persians  were  not  in 
the  ascendency,  and  we  find  in  every  case  the  Medes  cmd  Persians, 
or  the  Medes  alone.  Acceptable  to  the  multitude  of  his  brethren  — 
Mordecai  was  a  universal  favorite  with  the  Jews.  He  was  so  mani- 
festly raised  up  by  God  for  the  deliverance  and  promotion  of  his  nation, 
that  the  Jews  everywhere  felt  that  they  honored  God  in  honoring  his 
instrument.  Gratitude  also  for  what  Mordecai  had  done  in  their 
behalf,  would  incite  them  to  respect  and  affection.  Seeking  good  for 
his  people  —  Mordecai  set  a  good  example  for  all  rulers.  lie  did  not 
seek  self  in  honor  or  wealth  ;  the  good  of  the  people  was  his  aim.  This 
is  true  patriotism.  It  is  a  virtue  too  rare  in  the  world.  The  apostolic 
rule  is,  "  in  honor  preferring  one  another"  (Rom.  xii.  10).  How  greatly 
dishonesty,  trickery,  corruption  of  all  kinds,  would  be  diminished  in  the 
church  and  in  the  world  if  this  injunction  were  followed.     Those  who 


Chap.  X.  3.]  ESTHER.  91 

decai  the  Jew  was  next  to  the  king  Xerxes,  and  great  among 
the  Jews,  and  acceptable  to  the  multitude  of  his  brethren,  seek- 
ing good  for  his  people,  and  speaking  peace  to  his  race. 

do  follow  it,  however,  get  to  themselves  more  of  real  honor  and  lasting 
fame  than  they  could  receive  in  any  other  way.  "  Godliness  is  profit- 
able unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of 
that  which  is  to  come  "  (1  Tim.  iv.  8).  Speaking  peace  to  his  race  — 
ir~)  means  here  his  race,  or  all  the  Jewish  people.  ]Moidecai  was  a 
speaker  or  preacher  as  well  as  actor.  He  was  not  a  dumb  man,  never 
having  anything  to  say  for  God  or  the  church ;  but  one  of  his  distin- 
guishing characteristics  was  that  he  spoke  peace  (cibd)  to  his  race. 
oibir  is  one  of  the  grandest  and  sweetest  words  in  the  Hebrew  language. 
It  was  used  in  salutations,  tjb  Dibo  (peace  be  to  you)  was  the  Jewish 
benediction,  cibd  means  welfare,  health,  prosperity,  and  all  that  is 
good.  Mordecai  was  not  a  fault-finder,  a  cen surer,  but  he  spoke  words 
of  cheer,  hope,  encouragement,  and  prosperity  to  his  race.  These  are 
the  closing  words  in  the  historical  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  they 
seem  to  be  a  kind  of  prophecy  of  him  who  was  to  come  bringing  peace 
and  salvation  to  all  nations.  "  For  he  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made 
both  one,  and  hath  broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition.  And 
came  and  preached  peace  to  you  who  were  afar  off,  and  to  them  that 
were  nigh"  (Eph.  ii.  14,  17). 


ANCIENT    PERSIAN    ALPHABET. 


Pers. 

Hei 

.   Pot**. 

ffy 

i^ 

a 

AcL^tlo^  ^  Darius^ 

ty 

:3 

b 

U?7pl  Baryivesk 

<rr 

> 

^ 

tr^r^yr<--r^<rr^^ 

n 

^ 

d 

Ddryvush,    or 

tr 

^ 

V 

Dary\^u5/t 

y--r 

r 

z 

^<^9  tvs.>^^^5»*«'''**' 

«rr 

n 

kh 

IZ;  r/.?  1Z7  n  2^  , 

^Yyy 

t3 

t 

A/cKa5  h  ve  roj/i 

y<- 

^ 

y 

«rr^r<>-'msr^'Frr, 

y<-r^ 

D 

k 

Khsh.yl.rskl, 

n 

va 

A^^a^L(^^yjS, 

5=< 

J 

n 

ArtSixerxes, 

y^H 

6 

5 

^^iuxvr]^i)^,o. 

^ 

^ 

P 

X?7  6  zz/hnSK 

-«-£T 

n 

r 

T        .■          —         ; 

Art3Lkhska.skfd,,  or 

?< 

tJ 

5h 

>4  ri3.k'/tska,stcL, 

y<r 

n 

th 

*m  ^r  py^^  «rr  ^  ?^  >^ 

<ry 

^ 

ti 

Ar//<A^/if  x-oL. 

Tt 

tr 

^y£ 

Wo»V 

f  <^' = 'f 


EXCURSUSES. 


EXCURSUS  A. 

PERSIAN    WORDS    AND    NAMES. 

We  present  in  this  Excursus  so  much  of  the  cuneiform  alphabet  of 
the  ancient  Persians  as  is  needful  to  illustrate  the  argument  on  pp.  10- 
12  of  the  Introduction,  and  to  set  forth  what  is  known  of  certain  words 
of  Persian  oriffiu  in  the  book.  The  fourth  column  of  the  schedule  (see 
opposite  page)  pertains  entirely  to  the  argument  in  the  Introduction, 
but  carries  its  own  explanation  in  itself. 

In  referring  the  words  which  follow,  to  a  known,  or  in  some  cases 
to  a  supposed  origin,  we  have  condensed  Canon  Rawlinson's  account  of 
them  from  his  notes  appended  to  Ezra  and  Esther,  in  the  work  famil- 
iarly known  as  the  Speaker's  Commentary. 

"c"'rn"D  partemim,  which  is  found  only  in  Esth.  i.  3,  and  Dan. 
i.  3,  is  the  plural  of  cn"S ,  which  was  the  Hebrew  mode  of  expressing 
the  Persian  K^^^f  ^ITI  *^^^^  fratama,  first  [the  vowels  must  be 
supplied].  Fratama  corresponds  to  the  Sanscrit  ;)ra<^a?wa  ;  the  Zend 
frathhna;  the  Greek  Trpwro? ;  the  Latin  primus.  Daniel  and  Esther 
use  the  word  of  the  'first'  men  in  the  kingdom.  Compare  the  Latin 
use  of  the  word  primores"  ^- Rawlinson. 

d:q  Paros,  Persia.  Esth.  i.  18.  This  was  written      ^   fjjf  ^f  [^ 

Parsa. 

CQ-=  karpas,  which   occurs  in  Esth.  i.  G,  and  nowhere  else,  con- 

jecturally  in  the  Persian  literation     |t:  ^If  ^  J^      cognate  to  the 

Sanscrit  karpasa,  cotton,  Greek  KapTracros,  Latin,  carhasus  or  carbasa. 

-,r=  kether,  "  crown,"  =  {(H  <<  \^>-]\\  khshatram  (Esth.  i.  11; 
ii.  17  ;  vi.  8).  Compare  Greek  Kirapis  or  Ki8api?.  Khsh  =  x,  changed 
to  k  by  the  omission  of  the  sibilant. 

-,nc  pur,  "  the  lot,"  Esth.  iii.  7  ;  ix.  24,  20,  28,  29,  31,  32,  evidently 

a  Persian  word,  probably  written  f^  {J]  3|     or,  perhaps    {^  \U  "  << 

93 


94  EXCURSUSES. 

The  word  has  not  yet  been  found  in  tlie  old  Persian.  It  is  twice 
(iii.  7  ;  ix.  24)  accompanied  by  its  Hebrew  equivalent  bni5  goral. 

■a'lJnQ  pathshegen.  Esth.  iii.  14;  iv.  8;  viii.  13,  "copy,"  or  "tran- 
script," has  no  possible  Semitic  derivation,  and  seems  to  represent  a 

Persian  word  ^  m  P|l[ J  ^^  ^| |  i^^  patithagana,  derived,  ap- 
parently, from  the  preposition  patiya,  "  to,"  and  thab  "  to  speak," 
which  is  well-known  in  old  Persian.  The  "|5tJ  shegen,  in  ')?i;JrB  path- 
shegen, reminds  us  of  the  German  sagen,  singen,  and  the  English  say 
and  sing,  which  are  probably  cognate. 

D'lJ'nFiUins  akhashteranim,  Esth.  viii.  10,  14,  not  "camels,"  as  in  the 
A. v.,  but  an  adjective,  signifying  royal,  formed  from  the  old  Persian 
khshatram  [see  under  "iPD  kether,  "  crown,"  above],  which  would  yield 
the  adjective  ^^j  ^^  ^  m  t:^  hhshatrana,  which  with  x  pros- 
thetic, corresponds  with  "I'nn'rnx ,  the  singular  of  n'nn'rnx  ahhash' 
teranim. 

•jD-flTlJnwV  akhashdarpan,  {(Jf  <{  fj^  ^  fl!  khshatrapa,  Gr.  craTpdiT7]'i 
satrap,  ascertained  from  the  Behistun  inscription.  There  is,  as  usual, 
the  prosthetic  N,  and  the  tr  of  the  Persian  becomes  dr  in  the  Hebrew. 
Esth.  iii.  12  ;  viii.  9  ;  ix.  3. 

»5  ge7iez,  Esth.  iii.  9  ;  iv.  7.  The  term  does  not  occur  in  the  in- 
scriptions ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  existed  and  was  written 
\Il  |*~>-JoY  /|7  yyi  ^t^p-J  gaza.  It  was  probably  pronounced 
ga7iza  rather  than  gaza. 

N'lax  iggera,  or  as  in  Esth.  ix.  26  and  29,  ^nr.wX  iggereth.     Assyrian 

igirtu ;  its  Persian  form  was  very  probably  j^  ^f **  ^f  «y«^«,  and 
its  pronunciation  angara,  Gr.  ayyapo?.  Letter  was  perhaps  its  primitive 
meaning  (compare  modern  Persian  angareh,  an  account  book)  ;  but  from 
this  it  was  transferred  to  the  letter  carriers,  and  then  to  the  entire  sys- 
tem of  posts  established  throughout  the  empire  by  Darius  Ilystaspis. 
The  ayyap€v€Lv  of  Matt.  V.  41,  obtains  its  meaning  from  this  system. 

n.^rQ  pithgam,  Esth.  i.  20.  This  word  compared  with  the  modern 
Persian  paigam,  and  the  Armenian  patkam,  appears  to  point  to  an  old 

Persian  noun  patikama,  f^  ^TtF  ff  ft  fff  -t|T  which  must  have  had 

the  sense  of  "  command,"  "  edict."  The  first  element  of  the  word 
would  be  the  preposition  patiya,  "  to,"  which  becomes  pati  in  com- 
position.    The  other  is  perhaps  kama,  "  wish,"  or  "  will." 


EXCURSUSES.  95 

EXOUESUS  B. 

THE    TOPOGRAPHY    AND    BUILDINGS. 

I.    SHUSH  AX. 

The  site  of  that  once  famous  capital,  the  Susa  (Sowra)  of  the  Greeks, 
has  unquestiouably  been  found  upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Sha|iur,  a 
small  tributary  o"f  the  Dizful,  flowing  between  the  latter  river  from  the 
east  and  the  Kerkliah  on  the  west.  These  three  rivers  were  respec- 
tively the  Eulaeus,  Coprates,  and  Choaspes  of  tlie  ancients.  Here, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  north  from  Mohammerah  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tigris,  and  about  two  hundred  miles  east  by  soutii  from 
the  site  of  ancient  Babylon,  in  lat.  30°  10'  N.,  and  long.  4^^"  2G'  E., 
from  Greenwich,  at  a  spot  now  called  Sus  or  Shus  by  the  natives, 
there  are  extensive  traces  of  the  ancient  Slmshan. 

At  a  very  remote  age  this  city  was  the  capital  of  the  country  of 
Elam  (Gen.  xiv.  9)  called  Kissia  by  the  Greeks,  and  at  present  known 
as  Klmsistau  or  Susiana,  a  province  south  of  Assyria  and  west  of 
Persia  proper.  The  conquest  of  Shushan  about  6G0  b.c.  by  Asshur- 
bani-pal,  a  late  king  of  Nineveh,  is  recorded  on  a  prism  in  the  British 
jMuseum.  Here  the  Assyriologist  reads :  "  I  overwhelmed  Elam 
through  its  extent.  ....  Shushan  his  royal  city  I  captured."  Loftus 
(Chaldea  and  Susiana,  p.  428)  errs,  however,  in  giving  a  ground-plan 
of  Madaktu  as  being  Shushan.  (Compare  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  ii.  pp. 
208,  209).  From  the  dominion  of  Assyria  this  province  was  trans- 
mitted, with  the  supremacy,  to  the  Babylonian  empire.  That  royal 
buildings  existed  here  during  the  new  monarchy,  is  seen  from  the 
records  of  profane  history,  as  well  as  from  the  residence  of  Daniel  at 
Shushan.^  • 

Cyrus  the  Persian,  conquering  all  these  countries,  and  extending 
his  empire  greatly  to  the  westward,  must  soon  have  found  Siiushan 
the  most  central  spot  from  which  to  rule  his  vast  realm.  Passing  over 
the  immediate  successors  of  Cyrus,  Darius  Hystaspis,  as  a  part  of  his 
broad  plans  for  the  organization  of  the  empire,  distinctly  recognized 
Shushan  as  the  capital,  and  constructed  some  of  those  palaces  and 
works  to  which  the  Book  of  Esther  incidentally  refers. 

The  Achaemenian  monarchs  of  Persia  doubtless  often  found  refuge 
from  the  annual  extremes  of  temperature  in  the  warmer  climate  of 

'  Dan.  viii.  2.  The  river  Ulai  (Eulncns)  is  to  be  iilentifiefl  with  the  Rhnpur,  part 
of  which  anciently  ran  on  the  east  of  Slinshan,  where  a  dry  channel  is  now  dis- 
coverahlc  (Ixtftns,  pp.  424-430J.  There  soems  to  be  a  reference  to  this  bifurcation 
in  Dan.  viii.  16. 


96  EXCURSUSES. 

Babylon,  or  the  cooler  air  of  Persepolis  and  Ecbatana.  But,  on  the 
whole,  in  no  spot  could  so  much  of  the  year  be  comfortably  spent  as 
in  Shushan  ;  in  no  other  locality  was  the  water  so  excellent,  and  the 
soil  so  fertile  (Journal  of  London  Geographical  Society,  Vol.  ix.  pp. 
70,  71).  Susa  seems,  therefore,  to  have  been  the  ordinary  residence 
of  the  court,  and  is  believed  by  some  to  have  exceeded  in  magnificence 
both  Persepolis  and  Ecbatana.  (For  evidence  on  these  points  see 
Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  Book  V.  chaj).  xlix.  p.  256,  note.) 

Describing  early  spring  in  this  vicinity,  Loftus  says,  "  nowhere  have 
I  seen  such  rich  vegetation  as  that  which  clothes  the  verdant  plains  of 
Shiish,  interspersed  with  numerous  plants  of  a  sweet-scented  and  delicate 
iris  "  (Chaldaea  and  Susiana,  p.  346).  The  flower  of  which  Mr.  Loftus 
speaks  (Iris  sisyrynchium,  L.),  abundant  in  Palestine  also,  is  one  of 
those  called  "lily"  by  the  Orientals.  It  is  true  that  by  the  word 
shoshiin  (Hebrew),  or  susan  (Arabic),  they  mean  any  large,  bright 
flower.  (Tristram's  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  sub  Lily.)  But  the 
purple  of  this  iris  is  the  royal  color  of  Persia.  Hence  it  is  not  strange 
that  some  have  thought  the  name  of  the  city  Shushan  to  be  of  She- 
mitic  origin,  and  taken  from  this  little  shoshan,  so  abundant  upon  her 
plains.  If  Shushan  means  a  lily,  very  possibly  this  is  the  reference. 
But,  as  others  suppose,  Shushan  is  a  Pehlevi  word,  meaning  "  pleasant," 
and  the  neighboring  city  built  by  Shapur  is  called  Shuster,  in  the 
signification  o{  more  pleasant  (Ker  Porter's  Travels,  Vol.  ii.  p.  411). 

Of  the  mounds  which  now  mark  the  site  of  Shushan  four  are 
especially  noticeable.  Coming  from  the  west,  the  traveller  crosses  the 
Shapur,  a  small  stream  flowing  southward,  and  finds  himself  at  the  base 
of  the  smallest  but  loftiest  of  these  hillocks,  its  extreme  altitude  above 
the  river  being  one  hundred  and  nineteen  feet,  and  the  circuit  at  the 
summit  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  This  mound  doubt- 
less represents  the  citadel  of  Shushan.  Close  by,  on  the  northeast, 
rises  "  a  considerable  square  mass "  of  some  four  thousand  feet  in 
circuit.  Upon  this  have  been  discovered  foundations  of  a  magnificent 
hall  of  columns  erected  by  Darius  Hystaspis.  To  the  southeast  of 
these  mounds  and  separated  from  them  by  narrow  valleys  is  a  great 
platform  of  sixty  acres,  which  reaches  elevations  of  from  forty  to 
seventy  feet,  and  is  three  thousand  feet  long  on  the  east  side.  These 
three  mounds  together  form  a  diamond-shaped  block  of  about  four 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  in  the  length  from  north  to  south,  and  three 
thousand  broad  ;  having  its  angles  nearly  to  the  cardinal  points,  and 
including  above  one  hundred  acres  of  surface.  (Rawlinson's  Pulpit 
Commentary  on  Esth.  ix.  6.) 


EXCURSUSES.  97 

Eastward  from  this  upper  city  is  a  lower  platform  of  very  irreg- 
ular shape,  about  equal  in  area  to  the  other  mounds  taken  together. 
These  mounds  are  all  embraced  in  the  compass  of  three  miles  ;  but 
lower  elevations  are  traceable  to  the  east,  and  within  a  circuit  of  seven 
miles. 

Upon  the  northern  mound  the  excavations  of  Sir  F.  Williams  and 
Mr.  Loftus,  in  1851  and  1852,  laid  bare  the  foundations  of  a  hall  of 
thirty-six  pillars,  flanked  on  three  sides  at  a  distance  of  sixty-three 
and  one-half  feet  by  double  rows  of  pillars,  twelve  in  each  group.  The 
arrangement  will  be  seen  from  our  plan  of  the  north  mound.  It  will 
be  observed  by  comparison  with  the  plan  of  Persepolis,  that  the  num- 
ber of  columns  and  their  arrangement  is  precisely  the  same  as  in  the 
famous  dehl  Minar,  the  great  hall  of  Xerxes.  This  latter  structure, 
according  to  Flandin  and  Coste's  survey,  covers  an  area  of  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  and  a  half  feet  by  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  and 
a  half,  as  against  three  hundred  and  forty-five  by  two  hundred  and 
forty-four,  the  dimensions  of  the  hall  at  Susa,  given  by  Mr.  Loftus. 

Trilingual  inscriptions  found  upon  pedestals  ascribe  the  erection  of 
the  Susanian  edifice  to  Darius  Hystaspis.  It  was  doubtless  a  hall  for 
state  occasions,  in  distinction  from  Si palace,  or  place  of  royal  residence; 
bearing  to  some  royal  abode  the  same  relation  as  the  Hall  of  Xerxes 
to  the  Palace  of  Xerxes  at  Persepolis  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  pp.  285, 
295).  In  Mr.  Norris's  translation  of  the  inscriptions  upon  the  pedes- 
tals this  structure  is  called  a  "  temple,"  and  mention  is  made  of  the 
effigies  of  the  gods  erected  therein,  which  plainly  indicates  at  least  a 
semi-religious  use.  The  sculptures  at  Persepolis  represent  Darius  as 
a  pontiff-king  (Ker  Porter,  Travels,  Vol.  i.  pp.  677,  678). 

II.   THE  BERAH. 

The  expression  Shushan  the  6eraA  (Shushan -the  palace,  A. V.), 
occurs  ten  times  in  Esther,  —  Shushan  without  this  adjunct,  nine  times. 
A  careful  examination  of  this  Hebrew  word  (^^""3)  will  show  that  its 
original  idea  is  that  of  a  fortified  place,  equivalent  to  the  ySapi?  of  the 
Greeks,  and  the  burg  by  which  Luther  renders  the  word.  Birs,  e.g. 
Birs  Nimroud,  may  be  a  cognate  word  (Babylon  and  Persepolis,  Rich, 
p.  73,  note).  In  Nehemiah  (ii.  8  ;  vii.  2).  the  fortress  of  the  temple 
is  called  "  the  berah^  Later  the  meaning  of  this  word  was  extended 
to  include  such  palaces  of  religion  and  royalty,  with  their  gardens,  areas, 
and  dependent  buildings,  as  were  included  within  walls  capable  of 
defence.  In  this  sense  the  sacred  edifice  at  Jerusalem  is  called  m'!)  in 
1  Chron.  xxix.  1,  19.      Likewise  Josephus  speaks   of  the  temple  as  a 


98  ExcuESirsES. 

fortress  ;  for  we  read  (Bell.  Jud.  v.  5.  8)  "  the  temple  was  a  fortress 
that  guarded  the  city,  as  was  the  tower  of  Antonia  a  guard  to  the 
temple." 

In  the  Book  of  Esther,  at  least,  herah  must  be  capable  of  a  broad 
application,  for  it  includes  the  residence  of  the  king,  the  seat  of  bis 
government,  the  place  where  the  representatives  of  the  nation  are 
gathered  for  consultation  and,  feasting.  It  contains  a  royal  garden, 
the  buildings  of  the  harem  ;  and  it  is  within  its  limits  that  five  hun- 
dred enemies  of  the  Jews  are  slain  (ix.  12).  But  if  we  are  forbidden 
too  narrow  an  understanding  of  herah,  we  must  also  avoid  error  in  the 
opposite  direction.  For  it  seems  antecedently  unlikely  that  the  term 
was  apphed  to  the  whole  city,  for  which  "  Shushan  "  alone  is  used 
seven  times,  and  "  the  city  Shushan  "  twice,  as  an  equivalent,  in  these 
ten  chapters.  Occurring  sixteen  times  in  the  whole  Old  Testament, 
certainly  in  no  instance  does  tT^'^a  require  so  broad  a  meaning  as  capital 
or  metropolis.  While,  therefore,  the  reasons  given  forbid  our  restrict- 
ing the  word  to  a  single  building,  as  has  generally  been  done,  it  should 
be  understood  as  used,  like  "  "Windsor  Castle,"  for  a  more  or  less  ex- 
tensive area,  enclosed  with  walls,  and  including  gardens,  besides  palaces, 
temples,  and  other  buildings.  Castle  is  a  rendering  not  beyond  objec- 
tion, but  used  in  the  broader  sense  just  explained  it  is  the  best  word 
we  have  found.  ' 

This  fortified  royal  precinct  may  have  been  the  palace-mound  on  the 
north  ;  or  more  probably  still,  the  diamond-shaped  space  represented 
by  the  three  considerable  mounds  already  described  ;  since  traces  of 
palaces  have  been  found  also  upon  "  the  great  platform  "  (Loftus,  pp. 
352,  401-404,  414).  The  well-known  parallelogram  at  Persepolis, 
including  its  various  terraces  and  numerous  buildings,  may  illustrate 
such  a  herah,  though  perhaps  protected  mainly,  or  entirely,  by  retaining 
walls  and  scarped  faces  of  rock. 

The  fortified  palace  of  Babylon  is  believed  to  have  included  various 
buildings  now  represented  by  three  immense  mounds  and  numberless 
smaller  elevations,  and  enclosed  by  walls  the  present  remains  of  which 
are  more  than  six  miles  in  circuit  (Ker  Porter.  Vol.  ii.  pp.  346,  371, 
374).  If,  according  to  another  view,  these  walls  of  Babylon  were  of 
later  construction,  still  a  very  large  area  upon  which  the  great  mounds 
now  stand  was  covered  with  palaces,  temples,  and  fortifications.  This 
was  "the  royal  quarter"  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  530  and  note). 

A  similar  area  in  Shushan,  evidently  encompassed  by  a  wall  of 
brick,  protected  by  the  lofty  acropolis  at  the  western  angle,  and  by 
towers  at  intervals,  and  perhaps  divided  by  inner  walls,  would  have 


EXCURSUSES.  99 

aflPorded  room  for  the  various  palaces  and  buildings  of  government 
with  their  gardens,  and  for  the  residence  of  the  officers  in  waiting  upon 
the  royal  court  with  their  families  and  servants.  This  was  Shushan 
the  castle,  the  upper  town,  the  royal  quarter  —  "  Shushan  the  palace  " 
of  the  A.V.  Here  Daniel  dwelt  (Dan.  viii.  2),  and  at  the  western 
foot  of  the  acropolis  on  the  bank  of  the  Shapur  is  his  traditional  grave. 
Here  Nehemiah  also  found  a  temporary  residence  (Neh.  i.  1).  When 
"  the  great  king "  sojourned  at  Shushan,  doubtless  many  thousand 
people  dwelt  within  this  space,  just  as  during  the  feasts  at  Jerusalem: 
prodigious  multitudes,  living  as  Orientals  can,  were  able  to  find  room 
in  the  holy  city.  Ctesias  tells  us  (Barnes  upon  Dan.  v.  1)  that  the 
king  of  Persia  furnished  provisions  daily  for  twenty-five  thousand' 
men,  all  of  whom  we  presume  were  never  at  one  time  resident  in 
the  upper  city. 

Very  imposing  must  have  been  the  appearance  of  these  palace- 
crowned  heights  as  the  traveller  approached  them  over  the  great  plains 
in  the  midst  of  which  they  stand  (Loftus,  p.  347  ;  Herodotus,  v.  49 ; 
also  notes  upon  the  latter  citation  in  Rawlinson's  ed.).  It  is  further 
manifest  that  a  castle  so  lofty  and  commanding  must  have  proved  a 
stronghold  not  easily  captured,  as  history  records  (Polybius,  v.  48  end ; 
Conquest  of  Elam,  in  History  of  Asshur-bani-pal. —  Geo.  Smith). 

m.    THE  B ETHAN  AND  THE  BAYITH. 

Upon  the  berah,  the  position  and  architectural  character  of  only 
one  building  have  been  clearly  determined.  The  great  hall  upon  the 
north  mound  was,  as  has  been  stated  above,  almost  precisely  like  the 
Chehl  Minar  at  Persepolis,  except  that  it  was  a  little  smaller.  In  this 
fact  we  find  encouragement  for  the  otherwise  reasonable  opinion  that 
all  the  buildings  erected  by  Darius  and  Xerxes  at  Persepolis  and 
Susa,  so  far  as  designed  for  the  same  purpose,  wqre  similar  in  their 
character,  and  arranged  according  to  the  same  generic  laws  of  utility 
and  conventionalism.  Therefore,  from  the  ruins  existing  at  the  eastern 
capital,  we  may  draw  very  probable  inferences  concerning  what  has 
perished  at  Susa. 

That  the  effect  of  the  magnificent  groups  of  columns  which  formed 
the  great  hall  or  Chehl  Minar  at  Persepolis,  was  not  destroyed  by 
intercolumuar  walls  seems  evident.  No  remains  of  stone  or  brick 
partitions  have  been  found  either  in  this  hall  or  upon  the  foundations 
of  the  similar  one  at  Susa.  Mr.  Fergusson  believes  that  there  were 
such  walls  constructed  of  sun-dried  brick  (Palaces  of  Nineveh  and 
Persepolis,  pp.  144-146),  but  this  theory  is  sufficiently  disproved  by 


100  EXCURSUSES. 

considerations  presented  in  Anc.  Moa.,  Vol.  iii.  pp.  308-312.  (See 
Loftus,  p.  374.)  It  need  not  be  questioned  that  the  Chehl  Minar  was 
a  hall  of  audience,  used  for  state  occasions,  and  that  the  throne  was 
not  at  the  rear  of  the  front  group  of  pillars,  —  where,  with  his  views, 
Mr.  Fergusson  is  obliged  to  place  it,^  —  but  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
central  cluster.  The  general  effect  of  this  arrangement  is  well 
described  by  Mr.  Eawlinson  (Tb.  p.  312). 

The  edifice  whose  foundations  have  been  discovered  at  Susa  was, 
like  its  counterpart  at  Persepolis,  a  hall  for  state  occasions,  and  not  a 
palace,  —  this  latter  term  being  reserved  for  a  royal  residence.  We 
may  confidently  believe  that  somewhere  upon  the  Susauian  berah  there 
were  one  or  more  domiciliary  palaces,  similar  in  architecture  to  those 
of  Darius  and  Xerxes  at  the  other  capital.  Stone  being  much  less 
easily  obtainable  at  Susa,  it  is  possible  that  these  structures  were  of 
more  perishable  material  than  the  Persepolitan  :  or,  if  not,  the  very 
scarcity  of  their  material  exposed  them  to  destruction  by  subsequent 
populations.  Moreover,  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  their  preservation 
was  the  absence  of  a  rocky  platform  beneath  them ;  as  well  as  their 
exposure  to  a  more  vigorous  vegetation,  —  the  power  of  vegetation 
being,  at  its  weakest,  very  destructive  of  the  works  of  man. 

Loftus  observed  traces  of  a  palace  upon  the  great  mound  (English 
ed.,  pp.  401-404)  ;  and  Strabo  says  (Book  xv.  c.  iii.  §  21,  Bohn's 
translation),  "  The  following,  mentioned  by  Polycletus,  are  perhaps 
customary  practices  :  At  Susa  each  king  builds  in  the  citadel  (tVi  ras 
oLKpa^)  as  memorials  of  the  administration  of  his  government,  a  dwell- 
ing for  himself,  treasure-houses,  and  magazines  for  tribute  collected  (in 
kind)."  It  is  therefore  altogether  improbable  to  suppose  that  Xerxes 
dwelt  in  the  hall  which  his  father  Darius  built,  and  that  neither  of 
these  monarchs  built  here  a  domiciliary  palace,  as  both  did  at  Perse- 
polis, and  as  Polycletus  says  was  the  practice  of  each  of  the  Persian 
kings  at  this  very  Susa. 

To  the  Persepolitan  palaces  (see  our  plan)  we  must  now  turn  for  a 
moment.  Numerous  inscriptions  attribute  the  erection  of  one  of  them 
to  Xerxes  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  293,  note  7),  and  enough  of  the 
original  partitions  of  stone  remain  to  determine  its  general  arrange- 
ment. Upon  the  doors  and  their  jambs  are  toilet-scenes  and  other 
domestic  representations,  which  satisfactorily  prove  the  character  of 
this  palace.  A  similar  ruin  bears  the  name  of  Darius,  and  the  domi- 
ciliary character  of  the  structure  it  represents  is,  in  a  like  manner, 

1  See  his  Plan  in  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  307 ;  also  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  siA 
Shushan,  Hall  of  Xerxes. 


EXCURSUSES.  101 

attested.  These  two  palaces  are  similar  in  plan,  but  Xerxes',  the 
later,  is  larger,  and  is  peculiar  in  one  respect,  —  it  is  without  any 
rooms  behind  its  central  hall.  This  fact  finds  explanation  in  the 
peculiarity  of  its  position.  At  the  time  of  its  erection  the  platform 
being  crowded,  it  was  necessary  to  place  the  building  so  near  the 
southern  edge  that  there  was  no  room  for  such  apartments,  desirable 
though  they  evidently  would  be.  It  is  therefore  likely  that  Xerxes' 
palace  at  Susa  was  without  this  peculiarity,  and  was,  in  general 
arrangement,  like  the  Persepolitau  abode  of  Darius. 

"We  are  now  prepared  to  introduce  the  narrative  of  Esther.  The 
feast  with  which  it  opens  was  "  in  the  court  of  the  garden  of  the  king's 
palace."  "  Palace  "  here,  is  betkcin,  a  word  which  occurs  only  in  Esther. 
Fuerst  counts  it  of  Old  Persian  origin.  But,  if  so,  its  obvious  resem- 
blance in  Hebrew  to  bayith,  the  ordinary  term  for  palace  in  Esther 
and  the  Old  Testament,  renders  likely  the  relationship  of  these  two 
words.  Bethan  perhaps  designates  a  bayith  of  special  size  or  mag- 
nificence. Can  we  doubt  that  such  a  feast  as  this  would  be  held  near 
the  finest  building  at  Susa,  the  palace  of  royal  audience  ?  May  we 
not  very  safely  identify  the  bethan  with  the  great  hall  of  Susa  ?  and 
thus  locate  "  the  court  of  the  garden  "  near  this  edifice,  on  the  east  or 
the  west  side, —  of  which  conjectures  the  former  seems  to  us  preferable. 

This  word,  bethan,  occurs  in  only  one  other  passage,  —  in  chap.  vii. 
7,  8.  Esther's  banquet  was  held  in  a  bayith,  which  may  have  been 
a  portion  of  the  seraglio  building  or  a  separate  edifice.  This  hall  or 
bayith,  whatever  and  wherever  it  were,  evidently  opened  directly 
into  the  garden  of  the  bethan  ;  for  we  read  that  the  king  in  his  wrath 
against  Haman  (literally)  arose  into  "the  garden  of  the  palace"  (be- 
than). The  king  stepped  out  into  the  cool  air  of  the  adjacent  paradise 
to  calm  his  mind,  and'consider  what  should  be  done  with  his  grand 
vizier.  This  house  of  the  banquet,  then,  was  within,  or  adjacent  to. 
the  garden  of  the  bethan  ;  perhaps  in  the  rear  of  the  great  hall,  and 
we  may  suppose  that  the  garden  encompassed  at  least  three  sides  of 
that  imposing  edifice.  The  word  under  consideration  does  not  again 
occur  in  Esther,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  other  of 
the  recorded  events  had  direct  connection  with  the  hall  of  Darius. 

Bayith  is  found  more  than  twenty  times  in  Esther,  where  it  plainly 
denotes  the  king's  palace  or  residence,  or  the  various  departments  or 
buildings  of  the  royal  seraglio  (e.g.  ii.  13,  14).  "With  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  Xerxes'  second  feast  (i.  5)  which  was  in  the  garden  of  the 
bethan,  every  event  of  the  book  in  which  the  king  is  present  is  located 
in  a  bayith,  and  apparently  with  one  or  two  exceptions  in  the  same 


102  EXCURSUSES. 

hayith,  the  palace  or  residence,  a  building  doubtless  much  like  the 
palace  of  Darius  at  Persepolis  in  its  general  arrangement. 

For  reasons  given  above,  the  hall  of  Esther's  banquet  must  have 
been  located  not  far  from  the  hethan.  Whether  this  hall  (bayith)  were 
a  part  of  the  harem  or  were  a  separate  building,  —  a  kiosk  perhaps, 
—  Oriental  customs  and  proprieties  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  not  far  from  the  houses  of  the  women,  and  these  again  not  far 
from  the  king's  house.  Thus,  none  of  these  buildings  were  far  from 
the  hethan  ;  and  if  this  latter  be  the  hall  of  Darius,  as  we  have  con- 
cluded, all  these  residences  were  upon  the  north  mound  or  near  it, 
being  connected  with  it,  perhaps,  by  bridges,  if  upon  the  edge  of  adja- 
cent mounds,  as  however  seems  unlikely.  The  palace  of  Xerxes  was 
probably  in  the  rear  of  the  columnar  hall,  whose  site  has  been  recovered, 
or  else  to  the  right  or  left  of  such  a  position  (Loftus,  p.  376). 

Since  the  foundations  of  one  remarkable  hall  have  been  discovered 
at  Susa,  it  has  been  the  common  practice  to  locate  therein  most  of  the 
royal  scenes  of  this  book.  This  is  natural,  pleasant,  desirable,  if  con- 
sistent with  likelihood.  But  we  submit  that  both  philological  and 
archaeological  considerations  forbid.  Indeed,  our  conception  of  the 
magnificence  of  Xerxes  is  lowered,  if  we  imagine  the  great  hall  to 
have  been  at  the  same  time  the  palace  of  state,  of  feasting,  and  of 
residence.  ' 

IV.    THE   KING'S   GATE  AND   THE  COURTS. 

Most  palaces  of  ancient  Assyria  and  Persia  were  fronted  at  some 
distance  by  smaller  structures  called  propylons.  Ruins  of  four  of  these 
are  found  upon  the  platform  at  Persepolis,  showing  that  they  there 
consisted  of  a  square  hall  enclosing  a  group  of  four  pillars.  Such  a 
propylon  undoubtedly  faced  the  Hall  of  Darius  at  Susa,  standing  upon 
the  north  edge  of  the  mound  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  or  more,  and  perhaps  located  as  in  our  plan  of  the  north  mound. 
Without  doubt  there  was  also  a  propylon  in  front  of  the  palace  of 
Xerxes. 

Probably  at  Susa  the  gateway  was  not  through  the  propylon,  but 
beside  it,  as  illustrated  in  Mr.  Fergusson's  plan  of  Solomon's  palace, 
found  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  under  Palace,  —  the  hall  of  judg- 
ment there,  being  a  propylon  beside  the  main  entrance.  The  structures 
of  which  we  are  speaking,  in  Persia  at  least,  were  doubtless  intended 
for  court-rooms,  and  for  places  of  occasional  royal  audience. 

"^  The  gate  of  the  king,"  as  mentioned  in  Esther,  was  (A)  a  place  of 
official  duty  (ii.  19,  21 ;  vi.  10, 12).     We  observe  (vi.  10)  that  the  king 


EXCURSUSES.  103 

knew  where  Mordecai  was  to  be  found.  (B)  Guards  (iv.  2)  were 
stationed  liere.  (C)  A  number  of  the  king's  servants  (iii.  2)  were  to 
be  found  at  this  gate.  (D)  It  was  the  ordinary  way  to  and  from  the 
royal  presence,  for  the  prime  minister  (iii.  4  ;  v.  9, 13),  and  apparently 
the  only  public  entrance  (iv.  2)  to  the  royal  grounds.  (E)  It  faced 
upon  the  street,  or  "square,"  of  the  city  (iv.  1,  2,  6). 

That  this  "gate"  was  a  propylon,  or  rather  included  a  propylon, 
and  often  designated  the  court  held  therein  is  universally  agreed.  "To 
sit  in  the  gate  of  the  king  "  plainly  indicates  some  official  position  in 
this  supreme  tribunal.  This  gate  may  be  identified  with  that  propylon 
which  doubtless  stood  upon  the  north  edge  of  the  north  mound,  and 
which  might  well  have  served  as  the  entrance  to  the  herah,  and  the 
royal  precincts  in  general.  Or  the  chief  propylon  and  gate  of  the 
palace  may  have  been  located  upon  the  eastern  edge  of  the  royal 
grounds.  For,  wherever  the  palace  stood,  it  need  not  necessarily 
have  faced  as  did  the  hall  of  Darius,  nor  need  its  propylon  have  stood 
exactly  in  front.  None  of  the  propylons  at  Persepolis  are  true  to  such 
a  position,  —  convenience  or  other  considerations  evidently  drawing 
them  to  one  side  or  the  other.  That  of  the  Hall  of  One  Hundred 
Columns  perhaps  stands  behind  its  principal  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p. 
297).  It  may  have  been  considered  more  important  to  secure  a  nearly 
central  position  for  the  gateway  than  for  the  court-room. 

Having  considered  a  different  view,  "  the  gate  of  the  king  "  as  used 
in  Esther  still  seems  to  the  writer  always  to  indicate  the  same,  and  a 
definitely  known  locality.  Of  course,  when  the  monarch  was  at  Per- 
sepolis or  Ecbatana  his  supreme  court  would  accompany  him,  and 
occupy  new  quarters  near  the  palaces  of  those  places.  But  while  at 
Susa,  is  it  not  natural  that  the  court  should  have  its  fixed  place  of 
session  either  in  the  northern  propylon  or  in  the  propylon  of  the 
palace,  which  propylon  was  so  located  as  to  stand  near  some  edge, 
probably  the  eastern,  of  the  berahl  (See  note  on  ii.  19  ;  and  Fergus- 
son's  art.  Shushan,  iu  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.). 

The  most  difficult  of  all  our  problems  now  remains  to  be  briefly 
considered  :  "What  were  the  outer  and  inner  courts  of  the  king's  house 
to  which  there  is  reference  in  iv.  11 ;  v.  1,  2  ;  vi.  4,  5  ?  If  we  could 
understand  these  courts  to  be  respectively,  the  front  porch  and  the 
inner  columnar  hall  of  such  a  palace  as  Darius's  at  Persepolis,  all 
would  be  plain.  In  that  palace  the  throne  was  located  against  the 
centre  of  the  rear  wall.  If  Esther  had  entered  such  an  inner  columnar 
hall  she  would  have  stood  over  against  the  king's  house  (v.  1).  For, 
while  in  a  general  sense,  the  whole  palace  was  his  house,  in  a  secon- 


104  EXCURSUSES. 

clary  and  specific  sense  the  apartments  to  the  rear,  which  were  espe- 
cially his  residence,  were  his  house  (Fergusson,  Palaces  of  Nineveh 
and  Persepolis,  119).  The  king  sat  upon  his  throne  opposite  the 
entrance  (doorway,  nrB)  through  which  the  queen  had  just  passed. 
He  extended  toward  Esther  the  sceptre  and  she  drew  near,  passing 
up  the  central  columnar  aisle.  So  in  vi.  4,  the  king  in  the  stillness 
of  morning,  though  he  could  not  see  Haman  in  the  outer  court,  would, 
in  such  reverberating  halls,  hear  him  impatiently  moving  about  the 
pavement,  or  perhaps  questioning  the  guards,  and  this  with  special 
ease,  since  the  doorways  were  closed  by  nothing  more  impervious  than 
hangings. 

A  serious  objection  to  this  view  is  the  probability  that  these  halls 
were  roofed,  and  hence  would  be  called  by  a  Jew  porches  (a'^abs),  or 
were  something  other  than  courts,  which  ordinarily,  if  not  always,  imply 
spaces  open  to  the  sky.  But  it  may  be  that  court  had  come  to  be 
loosely  used  as  the  best  word  afforded  by  the  meagre  supply  of  archi- 
tectural terms.  The  great  height  of  these  columnar  rooms,  and  their 
uses,  might  have  led  to  the  employment  of  this  term.  Certainly  the 
inner  hall  was  not  a  portico,  and  house  (p'i'z)  could  not  be  used  for 
every  part  of  these  structures  when  distinction  was  necessary.  If  we 
believe,  with  Loftus  and  others,  that  these  columnar  groups  were  roof- 
less, the  difficulty  vanishes.  A  second  supposition  might  be  that  the 
buildings  were  arranged  somewhat  as  in  Sargon's  palace  at  Khorsabad. 
(Anc.  Mon,,  Vol.  i.  p.  281  ;  History  of  Art  in  Chaldea  and  Assyria, 
Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Vol.  ii.  pp.  20-27.)  There  must  have  been  at 
least  this  difference  in  detail,  however,  that  "  the  king's  house  "  and  his 
throne  (v.  1)  were  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  "inner  court."  Such 
an  explanation,  of  course,  assumes  an  Assyrian  rather  than  a  Perse- 
politan  style  of  palace.  The  difficulty  of  obtaining  stone  at  Shushan, 
and  the  greater  proximity  of  Assyrian  types  might  account  for  such 
an  anomaly  in  architecture.  It  is,  moreover,  probable  that  the  Persian 
kings  when  dwelling  at  Babylon  were  able  to  endure  residence  in 
palaces  very  unlike  those  at  Persepolis  in  respect  to  arrangement ; 
why  not  so  at  Susa  ? 

Mr.  Fergusson's  view  (art.  Shushan,  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.)  is,  that 
the  inner  court  extended  from  the  north  portico  of  the  hall  of  Darius 
to  the  propylon  facing  that  hall,  and  that  the  outer  court  was  out- 
side this  propylon,  upon  a  platform  now  crumbled  away.  This  view 
assumes  that  the  throne  was  placed  in  the  northern  portico  of  the 
hall ;  and,  —  unless  we  make  this  hall  a  royal  residence,  —  encounters 
difficulty  in  the  case  of  Haman  (chap.  vi.).     It  demands  an  entirely 


EXCURSUSES.  '105 

different  conception   of  the   topography  from   that  presented   in  this 
excursus. 

On  the  whole,  of  all  the  views  he  has  examined,  the  writer  prefers 
the  one  first  given  ;  unless  we  may  combine  that  with  the  second,  and 
suppose  that  there  were  Persian  palaces  grouped  in  Assyrian  arrange- 
ment with  courts  between.  In  this  case  the  expression  "  opposite  the 
entrance  "  (v.  1),  still  seems  to  demand  that  the  central  columnar  hall 
be  the  inner  court. 

The  following  explanation  is  that  of  my  co-laborer,  Dr.  Street, 
which  I  present  in  his  own  words,  leaving  the  reader  to  take  his  choice 
of  these  various  hypotheses. 

"We  have  in  the  book  of  Esther  the  proof  of  a  royal  seraglio  of 
great  extent.  The  queen  had  her  establishment,  magnificent  enough 
to  admit  of  her  giving  a  banquet  for  the  king  and  his  retinue  of 
attendants  ;  then  there  was  the  first  house  of  the  women,  and  the  second 
house  of  the  women,  and  the  king's  house.  All  these  pertained  to  the 
king's  private,  or  domestic,  or  family  establishment.  These  buildings 
would  naturally,  almost  certainly,  enclose  a  court  (ii.  11).  This  court, 
we  may  assume,  was  large  enough  to  include  the  space  known  as  the 
inner  court  of  the  king's  house.  This  latter  space  was  very  probably 
a  nook,  or  rectangular  recess,  or  projection  of  the  great  domestic  court, 
so  laid  out  as  to  present  a  field  for  an  outlook  from  the  throne  that 
would  be  worthy  of  the  royal  magnificence  ;  beautiful  in  its  array  of 
fountains  and  palms  and  flowers,  of  every  hue  and  every  fragrance. 
This  inner  court  of  the  king's  house  afforded  a  way  of  access  to  the 
king  that  was  designed  for  use.  Two  .ways  of  using  it  are  made  known 
to  us.  First,  it  was  used  at  the  call,  or  summons,  of  the  king  (ii.  14, 
and  iv.  11).  Secondly,  it  might  be  used  without  such  summons,  but 
at  great  risk  of  life.  The  intruder,  whoever  he  might  be,  —  any  one 
who  ventured  by  the  way  of  that  court,  uncalled,  —  W^as  met  by  the 
executioners  who  were  always  at  hand,  and  were  required  by  law  to 
d(?  their  work  of  death  at  once,  unless  the  king  interfered  by  holding 
forth  the  golden  sceptre. 

This  was  the  law  for  the  inner  coiirt.  It  was  not  the  law  for  the 
outer  court.  One  point  more.  The  queen  had  no  access  to  the  king 
but  by  the  way  of  the  inner  court.  "We  gather  from  this  that  the  inner 
court  was  the  way,  and  the  only  way,  of  communication  between  the 
monarch  and  his  harem.  He  could  send  for  any  member  of  it  at  any 
time  (iv.  11),  so  that  the  law  created  no  obstruction  for  him.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  were  so  numerous  that  it  was  necessary  to  create 
14 


106  EXCURSUSES. 

obstructions  for  them,  or  the  king  would  be  annoyed  beyond  endur- 
ance.^ .  This  restriction  could  not  be  regarded  as  a  hardship  in  such  a 
condition  of  society,  for  there  was  a  system  of  domestic  police  in  the 
harem.  Each  of  the  two  houses  of  the  women  had  their  keepers,  and 
there  were  eunuchs  of  high  and  low  degree ;  and  all  disagreements 
could  be  disposed  of  within  the  establishment.  If  individuals  wanted 
any  favor,  or  redress  of  grievances,  they  had  only  to  apply  to  those 
who  were  set  over  them.  There  might  be  extreme  cases  in  which 
they  would  prefer  to  risk  everything,  even  life  itself,  in  an  appeal 
to  the  king.  Such  cases  were  provided  for  in  the  well-understood 
regulation  that  gave  a  dim  hope  of  the  reaching  forth  of  the  golden 
sceptre. 

It  was  necessary,  moreover,  to  create  a  formidable  barrier  against 
disguised  assassins  who  might  otherwise  avail  themselves  of  this  way 
of  approach  to  the  king.  For  the  seraglio  was  by  no  means  cut  off 
from  communication  with  the  outside  world  (ii.  11,  and  iv.  4-10). 
The  harem  was  the  monarch's  little  private  realm,  governed  by  a 
special  code  suited  exclusively  to  that  realm.  .  Hence,  there  was  one 
law  for  this  smaller  domestic  realm,  and  another  for  the  kingdom. 
The  king's  family  was  in  this  respect  as  far  as  possible  like  any  other 
family  of  distinction. 

But  why  should  this  law  of  the  harem  be  made  known  (iv.  11) 
through  all  the  empire  ?  We  answer,  both  for  the  king's  safety,  and 
for  the  safety  of  his  subjects.  Messengers  were  constantly  arriving 
from  the  most  distant  provinces,  and  plots  were  as  likely  to  be  matured 
there  as  nearer  the  capital ;  and  there  was  always  the  possibility  of 
blunders  that  might  cost  many  an  innocent  man  his  life.  The  very 
form  in  which  the  law  is  stated  shows  that  it  was  possible  for  intruders 
to  find  their  way  into  the  inner  court.  The  inner  court  pertained  to 
the  ornamental  grounds  of  the  palace,  and  was  a  part  of  the  setting 
that  gave  effect  to  its  magnificence.  Of  course  it  must  be  open  to 
view,  and  the  easy  possibility  of  abuse  must  be  remedied  by  some  such 
provision  of  law  as  is  here  set  forth.  It  remains  to  suggest  how  the 
inner  court  may  have  been  topographically  situated  with  reference  to 
the  outer  court. 

The  accompanying  diagram  (p.  107)  with  a  few  words  of  explana- 
tion will  make  the  view  which  is  here  advocated  plain. 

We  are  at  liberty,  taking  the  palace  of  Xerxes  at  Persepolis  as  our 
model,  in  part,  to  assume  either  a  northern  or  western  portico  for  the 
king's  morning  receptions.    We  follow  Loi'tus  in  supposing  that  portions 

1  See  an  incident,  entitled  "  Besieged  by  a  Harem,"  in  Loftus,  p.  394. 


EXCURSUSES. 


107 


(                       0  0     °°°oo°°^.... 

h  ni 

^z^r^._j 

EXPLANATION. 

The  dotted  line  around  the  mound  represents  the  original  edge  before  it 
had  been  washed  or  worn  away.     The  dotted  lines  enclosing  G,  H,  and  K,  are 
the  conjectural  boundaries  of  the  courts  named  below. 
A     the  Great  Hall  of  Xerxes  or  the  Bethan  (i.  5). 
the  palace  of  Xerxes  (ii.  16). 
the  fii-st  house  of  the  women  (ii.  13). 
the  second  house  of  the  women  (ii.  14). 
the  queen's  house  (v.  4  and  vii.  1). 
the  propylon,  or  king's  gate  (v.  9). 
F  2  the  propylon  of  the  great  hall. 
G    the  outer  court  (vi.  5). 
the  inner  court  (v.  1). 
the  garden  of  the  Bethan  (vii.  7,  8). 
the  court  of  the  house  of  the  women  (ii.  11). 
place  of  the  throne  in  the  throne-porch.  —  Fergusson. 
supposed  position  of  the  queen  in  the  inner  court  when  the  golden 
sceptre  was  extended. 


108  EXCURSUSES. 

of  these  structures  were  not  provided  with  massive  roofs,  but  arranged 
for  woven  canopies  instead.  A  large  use  was  also  made  of  hangings 
and  curtains.  The  inner  court  was  probably  separated  from  the  outer 
by  a  row  of  wooden  pillars  with  their  hangings  of  byssus.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  twelve  pillars  indicated  in  the  above  diagram,'  may  show 
the  area  of  one  of  the  porticos  of  the  palace  or  king's  house  which  we 
assume  after  Fergusson  (p.  183,  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Persepolis) 
to  have  answered  to  the  modern  throne-room.  Tlie  throne  (*)  would 
have  an  outlook  into  both  courts ;  the  queen  entering  the  inner  court, 
and  taking  her  position  at  (f)  would  be  over  against,  or  in  front  of  the 
king's  house  ;  and  the  king  on  his  royal  throne,  in  the  royal  house,  would 
be  opposite,  or  looking  toward  the  gate,  or  entrance  of  the  house.  nn| 
is  variously  rendered  "entrance,"  "entry,"  "entering  in,"  "door,"  and 
"  gate."  It  is  once  used  to  denote  the  mouth  of  a  cave,  and  more  than 
sixty  times  to  denote  the  way  of  admission  to  a  tent  or  tabernacle. 
There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  understand  it  here  of  an  open- 
ing or  entrance  between  the  rows  of  pillars,  before  which  hangings  or 
curtains  of  byssus,  attached  by  silver  rings  to  the  front  pillars  were 
partly  gathered  back,  as  at  the  entrance  of  a  tent.  Esther  would  be 
face  to  face  with  the  king ;  and  diagonal  glances  across  the  inter- 
columnar  spaces  would  show  the  figure  of  Haman  as  he  walked  up  and 
down  in  the  outer  court. 

The  only  difficulty  that  remains  is  that  of  locating  the  buildings  on 
the  herah.  In  this  we  have  nothing  to  restrict  us  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  but  the  requirements  of  the  narrative,  the  ascertained 
position  of  the  great  hall,  the  form  of  the  herah,  and  the  probabil- 
ities derived  from  the  known  arrangement  of  the  palaces  at  Persepolis. 
All  writers  are  agreed  in  assigning  to  the  royal  buildings  a  place  on 
the  berah  at  a  suitable  distance  in  a  southerly  direction  from  the  great 
hall.  If  we  assume  that  the  palace  of  Xerxes  and  its  propylon  were 
the  most  easterly  of  the  group,  placing  the  propylon,  as  at  Persepolis, 
considerably  to  the  east  of  the  north  and  south  line  drawn  through  the 
centre  of  the  palace,  we  shall  meet  all  the  requirements  of  the  narra- 
tive, and  the  dimensions  of  the  berah  are  ample.  It  may  perhaps 
render  some  things  easier  of  explanation  if  it  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  king's  gate  is  probably  a  generic  phrase  denoting  either  of  the 
propylons  that  were  in  use  at  any  given  time  ;  that  pertaining  to  the 
great  hall  being  used  only  on  special  occasions  of  public  interest  and 
display.  Mordecai's  place  as  sitting  in  the  king's  gate  would  be  either 
in  the  one  or  the  other  as  the  occasion  demanded. 

1  Copied  from  the  northern  portico  of  the  palace  of  Xerxes  at  Persepolis. 


EXCURSUSES.  109 

As  to  propylons,  there  is  so  general  an  agreement  among  authors 
at  the  present  time  in  assuming  a  propylon  for  the  great  hall,  and 
another  for  the  palace  of  Xerxes,  and  in  making  the  latter  identical 
with  Ti^rn  n?ir  the  kmg's  gate,  that  this  point  need  not  be  argued  here. 
In  the  architecture  of  Jerusalem  where  there  is  no  evidence  that  any 
propylon  existed,  Bonomi  assumes  that  the  king's  court  was  identi- 
cal with  the  king's  gate;  "the  gate  of  judgment,  the  porch  for  the 
throne  where  he  might  judge,  even  the  porch  of  judgment"  (1  Kings 
vii.  7).  "It  was  in  a  court  or  gate  of  this  kind,  called  S"in  (teragn), 
gate,  in  the  royal  abode  of  Babylon,  that  in  after  times  the  prophet 
Daniel  sat  where  Nebuchadnezzar  had  made  him  pVian,  the  Sultan,  or 
ruler  over  the  whole  province,  rsi^io,  medinet,  of  Babylon,  and  the 
I'^IiD-S"! ,  Rab  Signeen  (prand  Signor),  the  chief  of  the  (princes) 
governors  over  all  the  wise  men  ■'Birn,  Hakims,  of  Babylon"  (Dan. 
ii.  48,  49). 

"Most  of  these  words,"  says  Bonomi,  "are  now  current  in  the 
country ;  so  that  if  we  were  to  write  them  in  Arabic  characters,  an 
Arab  could  read  and  comprehend  them"  (p.  176  ;  p.  155,  revised  ed.). 

"  The  propylaeum  (at  Persepolis)  stands  at  the  distance  of  forty- 
five  feet  from  the  head  of  the  stairway,  and  symmetrically  with  the 
centre  of  it ;  but  it  is  not  in  the  centre  of  the  great  hall,  nor  nearly 
so  (Fergusson,  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Persepolis,  p.  106). 

"  From  what  we  know  of  the  buildings  at  Persepolis,  we  may  assert, 
almost  with  certainty,  that  the  '  king's  gate '  where  Mordecai  sat,  and 
where  so  many  of  the  transactions  of  the  Book  of  Esther  took  place, 
was  a  square  hall  (wood  cut  No.  5),  measuring  probably  a  little  more 
than  one  hundred  feet  each  way,  and  with  its  roof  supported  by  four 
pillars  in  the  centre  ;  and  that  this  stood  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred  'feet  from  the  front  of  the  northern  portico, 
where  its  remains  will  probably  now  be  found  wheu  looked  for " 
(Fergusson,  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  iv. 


Note.  —  As  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  berah,  see  "  Hebrew  Language  viewed 
in  the  light  of  Assyrian  Research,"  by  Dr.  Fricdrich  Dclitzsch  (Williams  and 
Norgate,  1883),  pp.  22,  23,  note. 


110  EXCURSUSES. 

EXOUESUS  0. 

THE    PAVEMENT    AND    ITS    COMPONENTS.i 

nssn  (LXX,  XiOocrrpuiTov)  doubtless  means  a  pavement  of  some 
sort.  But  its  particular  nature  is  of  importance  towards  the  translation 
of  the  following  words.  It  will  hardly  be  denied  that,  if  not  in  all 
instances,  at  least  as  applied  to  Solomon's  Temjjle  (2  Chron.  vii.  3),  it 
means  a  pavement  of  stones  of  considerable  size.  If  this  were  so  in 
the  case  before  us,  such  materials  as  pearls  are  out  of  the  question,  and 
the  varied  coloring  of  a  mosaic  need  not  be  insisted  upon.  Floors  of 
slabs  and  large  bricks  have  often  been  found  at  Nineveh,  Babylon, 
Persepolis,  and  other  locations  in  Assyria  and  Persia  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol. 
i.  pi).  279,  282 ;  Ker  Porter's  Travels  in  Persia,  Vol.  i.  pp.  587,  699  ; 
Layard,  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  i.  p.  343  ;  Vol.  ii.  pp.  126,  261 ; 
Loftus,  Chaldea  and  Susiana,  p.  396).  It  appears  that  the  Babylonian 
palaces  were  mainly  paved  with  burnt  brick,  since  stone  was  scarce,  as 
at  Susa.  Such  pavement  slabs  as  have  been  found  at  the  former  city 
are  about  twenty  inches  square  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  388,  and  foot- 
note). An  illustration  of  the  beautiful  designs  sometimes  chiselled 
upon  them  may  be  found  in  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  i.  p.  279. 

Layard  tells  us  (Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  ii.  p.  183)  that  the 
Persians  closely  imitated  the  Assyrians  in  all  their  customs.  More- 
over, there  was  beauty  to  the  ancients  in  a  pavement  of  polished  slabs 
(e.g.  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  5,  8).  In  the  case  before  us,  admiration 
would  also  be  excited  by  the  fact  that  all  the  stones  of  Susa,  like  those 
of  Babylon,  must  have  been  conveyed  over  alluvial  plains  from  a  dis- 
tance,—  thirty  miles  in  the  case  of  Susa  (Loftus,  p.  376).  The  writer 
cannot  learn  of  the  discovery  or  unequivocal  record  of  a  tessellated 
pavement  (i.e.  one  of  small  pieces)  constructed  so  early  as  Xerxes.  It 
is  not  probable  that  such  a  refinement  existed  among  the  Jews  previous 
to  their  conquest  by  the  Romans  who  especially  delighted  in  that  sort 
of  work,  having  developed  an  art  which  they  received  from  the  Greeks 
(Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  xxxvi.  60  (25)). 

We  have  picked  up  from  the  soil  of  Jerusalem  numbers  of  the 
tesserae  said  to  have  paved  the  courts  of  Herod's  tem^ile,  and  perhaps 
also  Gabbatha  (John  xix.  13).  If  similar  geometric  solids  were  used 
to  cover  the  ample  area  of  Xerxes'  court,  why  has  not  one  of  the  vast 
number  necessary  ever  been  found  ?  Or,  if  this  flooring  were  a  true 
mosaic  of  precious  materials,  why  has  no  fragment  ever  attracted  notice 

Esther  i.  6. 


EXCURSUSES.  Ill 

in  the  excavations  ?  But  that  all  shths  whenever  uncovered  should  be 
carried  away  for  building  purposes  is  exactly  what  occurs  in  the  case 
of  every  Oriental  ruin. 

Further,  utdess  this  were  a  pavement  of  the  Assyrian  type,  three  of 
its  materials  could  not  have  been  white  or  nearly  so  (see  the  renderings 
of  Fuerst  and  Gesenius  in  our  Table),  nor  hardly  two  of  them,  as  most 
commentators  understand.  When  Orientals  attempt  colored  designs, 
their  taste  for  brilliancy  forbids  a  lavish  use  of  2)ale  tints  (Layard, 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  pp.  IGG,  1G7,  507,  531 ;  Loftus,  pp.  396,  397; 
Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  557  ;  Fergusson,  Palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Per- 
sepolis,  pp.  124,  353,  especially  154;  Fergusson's  History  of  Archi- 
tecture, Vol.  ii.  pp.  552,  558). 

Shasli.  —  Passing  to  the  materials  of  the  pavement,  let  us  first  con- 
sider the  second,  VV ,  the  only  one  of  the  four  whose  name  occurs  else- 
where, either  in  Esther  or  the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
LXX  gives  us  no  aid  here.  Indeed,  in  some  clauses  of  the  present 
description,  it  seems  to  have  abandoned  the  labor  of  translation,  and 
with  free  fancy  given  its  own  picture  of  a  beautiful  Oriental  banquet- 
ing hall.  Nearly  all  scholars  unite  in  rendering  shush,  "  white  marble" 
(see  Table  at  close  of  this  Excursus).  True,  from  the  generic  manner 
in  which  the  Hebrews  employed  scientific  terms,  there  is  opportunity 
to  argue  for  some  other  material  or  color.  Thus,  a  cognate  word, 
yiti^ ,  lily,  must  mean  in  Cant.  v.  13,  some  flower  of  a  red  color,  and 
doubtless  often  denotes  a  purple  iris  (Gesenius,  Lexicon  sub  voce)  ; 
being  evidently  used  generically  for  flowers  of  various  brilliant  hues. 
da  itself  was  the  material  —  probably  a  white  limestone  —  of  which 
Solomon's  Temple  was  largely  built  (Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  art.  Marble). 
And  here,  the  material  being  the  same  with  the  pillars  mentioned 
above,  —  if  the  feast  was  Ifeld  within  the  porticos  already  discovered  at 
Shushan,  —  the  term  seems  necessarily  to  mean  blue  limestone  (blue 
marble  A.V.) ;  for  the  columns  discovered  at  Shushan,  with  the  slabs 
on  which  they  stand,  are  of  this  material  (Loftus,  p.  376  note  ;  Rawlinson, 
in  Speaker's  Com.  and  Pulpit  Com.  iii  loco).  If,  then,  the  feast  were 
held  in  the  discovered  palace,  ird  in  this  place  means  blue  limestone,  as 
Rawlinson  holds. 

But  we  consider  the  court  of  the  garden  to  be  some  other  locality 
(see  i.  5  in  commentary),  in  which  pillars  of  white  marble  were  tem- 
Ijorarily  or  permanently  erected.  And  in  this  connection,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  that  the  tombs  of  Daniel,  and  of  two  IMoslem  saints 
near  Shushan,  are  "  built  of  bricks,  with  small  capitals  of  white  marble 
from  the  ruins  "  (Loftus,  p.  346).     Major  Rawlinson  also  observed  the 


112  EXCURSUSES. 

same  or  similar  capitals  (Journal  of  Loudon  Geog.  Soc,  Vol.  ix.  pp. 
69,  70).  When  we  remember  also  whaf  extensive  use  was  made  of 
white  marble  in  other  Persian  architecture  of  about  this  period  (e.g.  at 
Persepolis  and  Morgaub),  and  observe  the  general  agreement  that  this 
rendering  of  white  marble  comports  best  with  the  strict  etymology  of 
the  word,  we  need  hardly  question  further  the  meaning  of  fflO. 

"We  pass  now  to  words  concerning  which  Rawlinson  himself  observes, 
"  to  identify  the  stones,  or  even  their  colors,  is  difficult." 

Bd'hat.  —  The  first  of  the  four  is  ana ,  which  the  LXX  and  Vulgate 
translate  "  emerald-like  stone,"  and  conformably  to  this,  Bertheau,  Keil, 
and  Lange  think  it  may  be  "  malachite  "  or  "  serpentine  "  ;  Rawlinson, 
some  "  green  stone,  probably  "  ;  the  A.  V.,  "  red  marble  "  ;  Fuerst, 
"  alabaster  "  ;  Gesenius,  "  white  marble  "  or  "  imitation  marble."  As 
to  ''malachite,"  even  if  sufficient  quantities  were  then  obtainable,  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  it  would  not  be  too  brittle  for  a  pavement 
(Appleton's  Am.  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Copper).  "Serpentine,"  —  verd- 
antique,  —  when  polished /eai^ns  the  appearance  of  very  beautiful  mar- 
ble of  a  mottled  green,  but  is  deceitful  in  its  wearing  properties  (Dana's 
System  of  Mineralogy,  1869,  p.  468).  It  is  found  in  Persia,  and  might 
have  been  used  in  large  pieces,  and  of  the  specific  minerals  suggested 
seems  the  most  probable.  The  mineral  relics  of  Shushan,  which  Loftus 
mentions  as  found  upon  or  near  t,he  mounds,  are  white  marble  capitals 
(p.  346),  a  slab  of  red  sandstone  (p.  408),  vases  of  Oriental  alabaster 
(p.  409),  a  piece  of  polished  basalt  (p.  408),  slabs  and  columns  of  blue 
limestone  (pp.  408,  376),  a  column  base  of  coarse  yellow  limestone 
(p.  404),  and  a  trough  of  the  same  (p.  415). 

As  a  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  the  subject,  the  following  sug- 
gestions are  made.  Dina  is  generally  referred  to  a  root  meaning  to  lie, 
to  fei(jn.  Hence  the  rendering /«/se,  or  wizVa^zow,  «<o?je  (Gesenius). 
But/a/se  stone  might  mean  painted  slabs  or  tesserae.  The  application 
of  color  to  has  reliefs,  and  other  stone  surfaces  in  ancient  Assyrian 
architecture  is  well-known.  Moreover,  the  Persians  at  this  time  must 
have  been  familiar  with  the  painted  walls  of  Egypt. 

Again,  it  might  be  argued  that  ana  means  painted  brick,  nsab  being 
the  generic  word  for  brick,  whether  sun-dried  or  burned,  it  would  not 
be  strange  to  find  a  specific  word  for  the  burned  and  painted  article. 
Enamelled  brick,  though  used  abundantly  for  walls,  would  hardly  be 
mingled  with  unglazed  stone  in  a  pavement  (Fergusson,  Nineveh  and 
Persepolis,  p.  124).  Champolliori  and  Rossellini  have  given  specimens 
of  ancient  Egyptian  floors  of  painted  tile  or  brick  (McCIiutock  and 
Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Brick),  and  Cambyses'  conquest,  and  the 


EXCURSUSES.  113 

intercourse  with  Egypt  which  it  opened,  must  have  familiarized  the 
Persians  with  such  structures,  while  Xerxes'  army  (note  on  i.  3)  may 
have  brought  anew  to  Persia  the  art,  if  not  the  artisans.  Pavements 
of  burnt  brick,  we  have  already  observed,  were  the  rule  in  the  palaces 
of  Babylon,  and  the  chambers  at  Khorsabad  were  floored  with  the 
unburned  variety  (Fergusson,  Nineveh  and  Persepolis,  p.  111).  If 
painted,  these  bricks  would  not  have  been  unworthy  the  royal  courts 
of  Persia.  Indeed,  Loftus  (p.  396)  uncovered  a  pavement  of  brick 
upon  the  northern  mound  of  Shushan  which  he  describes  as  "  evidently 
connected  with  the  palace,  probably  a  court "  ;  and  bricks  of  every  sort, 
principally  derived  of  course  from  the  ancient  walls,  are  abundantly 
scattered  over  the  mounds.  Rawlinson  tells  us  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p. 
311,  and  note)  that  no  enamelled  brick  of  Achaemenian  times  has  beea 
found  in  Persia.  But  this  does  not  forbid  the  use  of  painted  brick  in 
a  single  pavement  at  Susa. 

According  to  our  ideas  of  royalty,  malachite  better  comports  with 
the  palaces  of  Xerxes  than  painted  brick;  yet  we  must  not  let  our 
visions  of  royal  magnificence  run  away  with  us,  but  should  remember 
that  these  ancient  monarchs  were  very  familiar  even  with  walls  and 
floors  of  adobe.  And  that  the  first  of  the  four  materials  of  this  pave- 
ment should  be  the  least  costly  would  not  be  strange. 

But  our  latest  conviction  is  that  the  word  refers  to  blue  limestone. 
Attention  has  already  been  invited  by  this  excursus  (p.  Ill)  io  the 
fact  that  slabs  of  such  stone  are  found  upon  the  mounds,  and  that  the 
columns  of  the  great  hall  were  not  only  of  this  material,  but  rested 
upon  blocks  of  it.  Moreover,  as  seen  in  Esther  viii.  15,  blue  in  its 
different  shades  was  a  favorite  colot-  with  the  Persians,  —  indeed  a 
royal  color.  (See  History  of  Art  in  Chaldaea  and  Assyria,  Perrot 
and  Chipiez,  Vol.  i.  p.  28t).) 

No  other  of  these  four  terms  seems  so  likely  to  denote  a  material 
which  would  almost  certainly  have  been  employed.  There  is,  it  must 
be  confessed,  at  present  little  philological  ground  for  this  interpretation, 
or,  indeed,  for  any  other  .'  The  word  may  represent  some  Persian 
name,  or  refer  to  some  ''  deceitful "  peculiarity  of  working  (e.g.  cherty, 
Loftus,  p.  343),  or  to  the  fading  of  the  color  common  in  this  material ; 
but,  as  stated  above,  hahat  seems  likely  to  have  been  blue  limestone. 

Dar.  —  The  second  element  of  the  pavement,  shcish,  we  have  con- 
sidered. The  third  was  '"^.  Michaelis,  as  the  A.V.  (margin),  renders 
this  '-alabaster" ;  most  authorities  "  pearly-stone,"  "  pearl "  or  "  mother- 
of-pearl."  The  word  is  commonly  derived  from  "i*'n  ,  to  shine  (Fuerst) 
or  to  glance,  glitter  (Gesenius).  Many  kinds  of  alabaster  are  pearly, 
15 


114  EXCURSUSES. 

bright,  even  glittering,  at  least  when  freshly  quarried.  Layard  reminds 
us  (Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  ii.  p.  313)  that  alabaster  was  "the 
common  iiavement  stone  of  the  Assyrians."  It  is  still  thus  used  for 
the  halls  of  Bagdad.  Not  to  find  a  material,  so  abundantly  employed 
in  the  palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  among  the  materials  here 
mentioned  would  be  surprising.  We  therefore  believe  "Tn  to  have  been 
alabaster,  in  some  form. 

To  some  it  may  occur  that  this  stone  was  "  oriental  alabaster,"  — 
scientifically  stalagmite,  a  variety  of  calcite,  and  not  alabaster  at  all. 
For  stalagmite  when  polished  discovers  a  beautiful  undulatory  zoning 
which  considerably  resembles  the  flight  of  the  swallow,  a  bird  called 
ni"!?!  in  Hebrew,  from  the  verb  ^^'^ ,  now  before  us,  in  the  sense  of  to 
circle.  The  veining  of  "  oriental  alabaster  "  might  well  entitle  it  to 
the  name  Tt)  in  this  meaning.  Pliny  says  of  nlabastritis,  which  we 
identify  with  "  oriental  alabaster  "  :  "  that  which  is  of  a  honey  color  is 
the  most  esteemed,  covered  with  spots  curling  in  whirls,  and  not  trans- 
parent" (Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  xxxvi.  12.  Compare  Dana's  System  of 
Mineralogy,  1869,  pp.  640,  679).  The  vases  of  this  material  which 
Mr.  Loftus  found  upon  the  mounds  of  Shushan  (p.  409)  are  pronounced 
by  Dr.  Birch  to  have  been  formed  from  the  stone  of  the  celebrated 
quarry  at  Tel-el- Amarna  in  Egypt,  but  it  seems  unlikely  that  pavement 
slabs  were  obtained  from  such  a  ]distance. 

Sochcreth.  —  r'^rb  yet  remains.  Some  excellent  authorities  derive 
this  word  from  ^no ,  in  the  sense  of  'nn'j ,  to  be  black,  and  render  it 
"  black  stone  "  or  "  black  marble."  (See  Lange  and  Bertheau,  in  loco.) 
Fuerst,  however,  prefers  "  red  marble,"  taking  ino  in  the  unused 
meaning,  to  be  red,  for  which  he  suggests  cognates  in  Arabic.  Gese- 
nius,  followed  by  others,  derives  fTirb  from  H^nb,  a  shield,  and  the 
latter  from  "Xyo  in  the  employed  sense,  to  go  about,  to  surround,  — 
"stone  with  shield-like  spots,"  "spotted  marble."  According  to  such  a 
view,  although  it  has  not  been  suggested  by  these  authors,  this  material 
might  be  the  "  stone  full  of  shells  "  having  "  a  very  pleasing  appear- 
ance "  of  which  Layard  found  six  polished  slabs  at  Kouyunjik  (Nineveh 
and  Babylon,  p.  446 ;  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  ii.  p.  276),  and 
which  Xenophon  described  as  forming  the  walls  of  Mespila  (Nineveh) 
to  the  height  of  fifty  feet  (Anabasis,  iii.  4,  10;  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  i.  pp. 
321,  322),  which,  moreover,  is  sufficiently  abundant  in  that  locality  to 
be  the  common  building  stone  of  Mosul  (Ainsworth's  Travels  in  the 
Track  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  p.  140). 

If  this  were  a  dark  mineral  we  may  remember  that  Layard  found  at 
Khorsabad  a  small   structure   entirely  constructed  of   black   marble 


EXCURSUSES.  11.-, 

(Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  l.'JO).  a  material  of  wliicli  portions  are  often 
found  in  the  Assyrian  ruins.  Or  this  dark  stone  may  have  been  basalt, 
which  abounds  in  the  Koordish  Hills  and  elsewhere  in  Western  Asia. 
The  pavement  of  the  temple  at  Khorsabad,  as  well  as  the  whole  edifice, 
is  of  this  material  (Fergusson,  Nineveh  and  Persepolis,  pp.  294,  295). 
A  polished  piece  of  basalt  was  found  by  Loftus  (p.  408)  at  Shushan. 
and  various  monuments  of  this  same  rock  were  observed  by  Layard 
(Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  ii.  p.  316).  The  "black  stone"  with 
which  Josephus  tells  us  Solomon  paved  the  royal  road  to  Jerusalem, 
"to  manifest  the  grandeur  of  his  riches  and  his  government,"  was 
probably  basalt,  which  abounds  in  the  Hauran,  and  is  to-day  every- 
where counted  one  of  the  best  materials  for  this  purpose  (Josephus, 
Antiq.,  viii.  7.  4 ;  Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  sub  Marble). 

A  slab  of  red  sandstone  found  upon  the  mounds  (Loftus,  p.  408) 
suggests  the  availability  of  that  material.  Such  stone  would  be  more 
easily  worked  than  basalt,  would  contribute  a  more  cheerful  tone  to 
the  pavement,  and  would  consort  with  Fuerst's  derivation  of  the  word- 
Red  was  a  favorite  color  with  the  Assyrians.  (Perrot  and  Chipiez, 
ut  supra,  Vol.  i.  p.  280.) 

"We  therefore  suggest  that  these  four  materials  were,  in  the  order  of 
the  text,  blue  stone,  white  marble,  alabaster,  and  red  stone.  One  advan- 
tage of  this  rendering  is,  that  all  these  materials  have  in  some  shape 
been  found  upon  the  mounds,  and  are  thus  proved  to  have  been,  in  a 
measure,  available.  They  are  all  suitable  for  such  a  purpose.  It  may 
have  been  a  wonder  enough  to  see  a  pavement  all  the  components  of 
which  must  have  been  brought  from  a  great  distance. 

As  in  the  discovered  temple  of  Shushan  pillars  of  blue  limestone 
rest  upon  slabs  of  the  same,  so  it  is  possible  that  in  this  summer  palace 
the  pillars  of  white  marble  rested  upon  slabs  of  the  same,  while  the 
other  materials  formed  the  remaining  pavement.  That  much  of  this 
material  should  not  be  discoverable,  after  the  sliglit  explorations  yet 
made,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  for  many  centuries  subsequent  to  the 
reign  of  Xerxes  there  were  towns  upon  these  mounds  largely  built  of 
the  ruins,  which  towns  were  successively  destroyed  by  conflagration  or 
otherwise,  thus  causing  the  gradual  crumbling  of  some  material  and  the 
burial  of  other.  And  now  for  many  centuries  of  our  era,  every  con- 
siderable fragment  of  stone  found  in  all  these  plains  has  been  eagerly 
carried  away  for  the  construction  of  neighboring  villages. 


116 


EXCURSUSES. 


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EXOUESUS  D. 
THE   LETTERS    AND    POSTS    OF   THE    ANCIENTS.^ 

There  is  reference  in  the  Book  of  Esther  to  the  first  postal  service 
worthy  of  the  name  concerning  which  we  have  any  definite  knowledge. 
(See  i.  22  ;  iii.  13,  15;  viii.  10,  14;  Rollin's  Anc.  Hist.,  Bk.  4,  chap. 
4,  art.  1,  sec.  4.)  Jeremiah  (11.  31)  refers  to  some  such  system  among 
the  Assyrians,  and  it  is  likely  that  from  the  earliest  ages  kings  and  men 
of  power  made  provision  for  the  rapid  conveyance  of  their  messages. 

In  Palestine  and  other  mountainous  countries  this  was  done  by  fleet 
footmen.  Some  rulers  provided  themselves  with  a  corps  of  those  who 
•were  qualified  by  nature  and  practice  to  become  such  messengers. 
Pliny  (as  quoted  in  Dunglison's  Physiology,  Vol.  ii.  p.  249)  says  that 
excision  of  the  spleen  was  performed  on  runners  as  beneficial  to  their 
wind. 

There  is  record  of  those  who  travelled  on  foot  from  Tyre  to  Jeru- 
salem, one  hundred  miles,  in  twenty-four  hours ;  and  we  read  that  some 
could  accomplish  so  much  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  during  the 
same  period  of  time.  (Barnes  on  Job  ix.  25.)  These  professional 
footmen  were  well  known  in  the  time  of  Job,  whose  language  is:  "Are 
not  my  days  swifter  than  a  post  (lit.  runner)  ?  "  Saul,  the  first  Hebrew 
king,  had  an  organized  body  of  "footmen"  (margin,  as  original,  run- 
ners), in  which  respect  he  doubtless  followed  the  usual  custom  of  kings. 
Under  our  English  reading  "  guard  "  we  find  these  runners  to  have  been 
a  regular  corps  in  the  armies  of  succeeding  Hebrew  monarchs.  Hence 
the  allusion  of  Jeremiah :  "  If  thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen,  and 
they  have  wearied  thee,  then  how  canst  thou  contend  with  horses  ?  " 

Among  ^nations  richer  in  swift  beasts,  and  dwelling  in  a  less  moun- 
tainous country  than  th'e  Jews,  the  runner,  doubtless  from  earliest- 
times,  ran  with  other  legs  than  his  own.  But  the  only  word  used  in 
the  Bible  for  such  couriers,  whether  mounted  or  not,  is  the  one  of 
which  we  have  spoken,  and  which  is  often  translated  "  posts."  This 
latter  English  term,  coming  from  the  Latin,  originally  meant  the  house 
or  station  whence  relays  of  horses  were  obtained,  and  where  couriers 
might  lodge.  Such  an  original  meaning  of  the  word  is  almost  lost  to 
us,  though  remaining  in  the  expression  "  military  post." 

The  Persian  postal  system  was  established  by  Cyrus  the  Great  dur- 
ing a  reign  continuing  from  559  to  529  b.c.     It  was  greatly  improved 
by  Darius,  to  whom  some  even  ascribe  its  origination.     (Rawlinson, 
Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  426.)     Herodotus  (viii.  98)  gives  the  credit  to 
1  Esther  i.  22;  iii.  13,  15. 


118  EXCUESUSES. 

Xerxes.  This  latter  monarch  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  reign  devoted 
himself  to  the  thorough  organization  and  the  general  improvement  of 
his  realm.  He  perceived  that  the  peace  and  permanency  of  his  rule 
would  be  greatly  enhanced  by  quick  communication  between  himself 
and  all  parts  of  his  vast  empire,  that  he  might  thus  have  prompt  and 
frequent  reports  from  every  oflficer  of  his  government,  and  be  able 
speedily  to  transmit  his  own  directions  and  decrees.  Thus  only  he 
could  have  "well  in  hand "  an  empire  of  twenty  satrajDies  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  districts,  extending  from  India  to  Ethiopia. 

Accordingly,  he  established  post-houses  along  the  chief  lines  of  travel 
at  intervals  of  about  fourteen  miles,  according  to  the  average  capacity 
of  a  horse  to  gallop  at  his  best  speed  without  stopping.  At  each  of 
these  there  were  maintained  by  state  a  number  of  couriers  and  several 
relays  of  horses.  One  of  these  horsemen  receiving  an  official  docu- 
ment rode  at  utmost  speed  to  the  next  post-house,  whence  it  was  taken 
onward  by  another  horse,  and  perhaps  by  a  new  courier.  Ballautine 
(Midnight  Marches  Through  Persia)  states  that  at  the  present  day  a 
good  horseman  of  that  country  will  often  travel  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  or  more  each  day  for  ten  or  twelve  days  consecutively. 
(Upon  this  general  subject,  besides  references  already  given,  see  Cyro- 
paedia,  viii.  6.) 

Such  was  the  method  of  transmitting  messages  existing  in  the  time 
of  Xerxes  and  Esther,  and  in  our  day  still  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Persia,  and,  under  substantially  the  same  form,  in  thinly  settled 
regions  of  Russia,  and  other  countries.  This  system  was  adopted  with 
some  improvements  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  transmitted  to  the 
nations  of  western  Europe,  with  whom  in  the  course  of  centuries  it 
developed  into  the  inexpressibly  useful  form  in  which  it  has  been 
enjoyed  by  us. 

But  in  ancient  times  the  postal  system  was  intended  only  for  the  use 
of  the  monarch  and  those  "  whom  he  delighted  to  honor,"  and  not  for 
his  people,  who  derived  no  direct  benefit  from  it.  It  is  true  that  good 
roads,  bridges,  ferries,  and  inns  were  established  ;  that  by  guard-houses 
these  routes  were  kept  free  from  brigands  which  infested  the  empire 
(Herod,  v.  52)  ;  and  that  travellers  might  journey  upon  these  highways; 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  could  obtain  the  use  of  the  post-horses, 
even  when  the  government  was  in  no  need  of  them.  And  above  all, 
the  post  itself  was  only  for  the  king.  It  soon  became  a  law  of  the  sys- 
tem that  a  courier  might  impress  man  or  beast  into  his  service,  and  it 
was  regarded  a  serious  offence  to  resist  such  impressment.  This  priv- 
ilege of  couriers  was  subsequently,  as  is  well-known,  a  part  of  the 


EXCURSUSES.  119 

Roman  system,  reference  to  which  is  found  in  the  familiar  instruction 
of  our  Saviour,  '•  "Whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with 
him  twain"  (Matt.  v.  41;  xxvii.  32;  Mark  xv.  21).  The  messages 
of  the  king  were  thus  "  hastened  and  pressed  on  "  at  any  inconvenience 
to  the  people  ;  but  common  men  must  send  their  letters  by  caravans, 
by  special  messengers,  or  in  any  way  they  might. 

The  main  post-road  in  Xerxes'  day  was  that  from  Susa  to  Sardis, 
a  distance  of  about  fourteen  hundred  miles  (Ilerod.  ibid.).  Besides, 
there  was  a  branch  to  Ecbatana,  and  a  main  line  to"  Babylon,  with  less 
important  routes  to  all  the  localities  of  the  empire. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  brief  reference  to  the  postal  system  of 
modern  Persia.  In  this  there  are  four  routes  radiating  from  Teheran, 
the  capital,  as  follows:  (1)  Northwest  to  Resht  on  the  Caspian,  and  to 
Tabriz.  (2)  Southeast  to  Yezd.  (3)  South  to  Shiraz.  (4)  West  to 
Hamadan,  the  supposed  site  of  (southern)  Ecbatana,  and  reputed  by 
the  inhabitants  to  contain  the  tombs  of  Esther  and  Mordecai. 

On  these  routes,  at  average  distances  of  about  fifteen  miles,  are  post- 
houses,  square  enclosures  of  stone  or  mud,  "  where  several  horses  are 
kept  stabled,  ready  to  carry  at  short  notice  any  messenger  or  traveller 
to  the  next  post-house  "  (Ballantiue,  Midnight  Marches  Through  Per- 
sia, pp.  118,  119).  For  one  '"keran"  (some  twenty  cents)  for  each 
"farsakh"  (about  three  miles),  any  person  may  travel,  "  chapar,"  or 
post,  on  these  routes.  The  "  farsakh "  (parasang  ?)  according  tb  the 
Zendavesta,  is  the  distance  a  far-sighted  man  can  distinguish  a  white 
camel  from  a  black  one.  Another  and  more  probable  definition  is, 
"  as  far  as  a  loaded  mule  can  travel  in  an  hour,"  the  common  Oriental 
measure  of  distance. 

The  station  is  called  the  "menzel"  or  "  chapar-khanneh,"  —  post- 
khan  or  inn,  and  its  keeper  the  "  chapar-chee."  Over  the  door  by" 
which  the  court  of  the  khan  is  entered  is  a  single  small  room,  forming 
a  second  story.  This  room  is  the  "  bala-khanneh,"  —  the  upper  inn, 
and  from  its  name  comes  our  English  word  halcony.  Here  the  traveller 
may  lodge  when  "  chaparing,"  as  such  journeying  is  termed  in  Anglo- 
Persian.  Of  course  only  saddle-horses  can  be  used ;  for,  says  Arnold 
(Through  Persia  by  Caravan,  p.  116),  "  on  the  most  frequented  road  in 
the  empire  no  carriage  can  travel  except  with  a  sufliicient  number  of 
men  to  lift  it  over  places  which  are  otherwise  impassable." 

Letters  or  epistles  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  are  designated  by 
several  words  of  which  the  following  is  a  brief  account. 

-BD  ,  literally,  a  writing  ;  the  ancient  and  generic  word.  In  the  first 
age  there  was  little  distinction  between  books  and  letters.    The  former 


David's, 

B.C. 

1035, 

Jezebel's, 

B.C. 

899, 

King  of  Syria's, 

about  B.C. 

894, 

Jehu's, 

B.C. 

884, 

King  of  Babylon's, 

B.C. 

712, 

King  of  Assyria's, 

B.C. 

710, 

Jeremiah's ;  also  Shemaiah's,  B.C. 

599, 

120  EXCURSUSES. 

were  few  and  brief,  of  the  nature  of  records,  and  in  nothing  but  in 
style  and  absence  of  address  differed  from  the  latter.  The  difference 
never  became  so  great  in  Old  Testament  times  that  any  distinguishing 
word  was  necessary,  though  "  roll "  or  sometimes  the  plural  of  "BO 
would  suggest  what  was  longer  than  a  mere  letter,  which  the  connection 
would  also  sufficiently  indicate. 

Examples  of  the  use  of  this  word  follow.  It  is  to  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  the  dates  do  not  indicate  when  the  word  was  used,  —  which 
would  be  shown  by  the  time  at  which  each  book  was  written,  —  but 
they  show  when  these  letters  were  written.  The  first  letter  is  the  ear- 
liest mentioned  in  any  human  records,  except  those  of  Egypt. 

2  Sam.  xi.  14,  15. 

1  Kings  xxi.  8-11. 

2  Kings  V.  5-7. 
lb.  X.  1-7. 
lb.  XX.  12. 

lb.  xix.l4 ;  Isa.  xxxvii.l4. 
Jer.  xxix.  1,  25,  29. 

The  following  derivatives  of  nn3  ,  the  usual  verb  to  write,  occur  in 
2  Chronicles  in  the  sense  of  a  letter,  —  the  first  being  the  letter  of 
Hiram,  the  Phenician  king  : 

are,  B.C.  1015,  2Chron.  ii.  11. 

snap,  B.C.    889,  2  Chron.  xxi.  12. 

nn3,  B.C.   710,  2  Chron.  xxxii.  17. 

"When  the  Persian  influence  began  to  be  felt,  and  especially  when 
the  Jews  became  acquainted  with  the  Persian  postal  system  and 
adopted  it,  at  least  in  part,  new  words  for  letters  and  for  the  different 
kinds  of  letters  came  in.  The  following  are  examples  of  these  Hebrew 
words  for  "  letter,"  of  later  times  and  of  Persian  origin. 

rrnSN  ,  a  writing  carried  hy  a  post.  This  word  occurs  in  Esther  (ix. 
26,  29)  ;  six  times  in  Nehemiah  ;  twice  in  2  Chronicles.  In  its  Chaldee 
form  iC^ax  ,  it  is  found  three  times  in  Ezra.  The  word  doubtless 
originated,  as  Gesenius  suggests,  from  "lax ,  a  courier,  which  is  derived 
by  him  from  "lasj  in  its  second  meaning  to  gain,  hence  to  hire  for  wages. 
But,  as  the  idea  of  impressment  rather  than  hiring  for  wages  was  prom- 
inent in  the  ancient  system,  why  not  derive  the  word  from  the  first 
sense  of  *i5X ,  to  gather,  to  scrape  together  ?  Fuerst,  however,  with  less 
probability,  derives  rntif.  from  "^ax  or  "la ,  to  roll,  hence  what  is  rolled 
up,  a  letter  or  message. 

The  Greek  word  ayyapivu),  to  compel,  to  press  into  service  (Matt.  v. 


EXCURSUSES.  121 

41;  xxvii.  32;  Mark  xv.  21,  already  noticed  in  this  Excursus),  and 
ayyapos,  an  impressed  courier,  seem  more  naturally  to  come  from  "15K , 
as  above,  and  not  from  y^ ,  a  courier  (2  Chron.  xxx.  6,  etc.),  according 
to  Fuerst's  opinion. 

X^^^. »  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  a  letter,  occurs  five  times  in  Ezra. 

Bsrs ,  Hebrew  and  Chaldee,  is  another  word,  probably  of  Persian 
origin,  sometimes  used  in  the  same  sense.  Its  primitive  meaning  seems 
to  lie  a  decree  sent  hy  post,  but  it  also  signifies  an  answer  or  a  letter.  It 
is  found  iu  Esther  i.  20,  also  in  Ezra  and  Daniel. 

The  materials  upon  which  the  ancients  wrote,  differed  somewhat  with 
peoples  and  ages.  While  public  inscriptions  and  briefer  records  were 
usually  placed  upon  stone  or  metallic  or  clay  surfaces ;  for  books,  clay 
cylinders,  waxed  tablets,  papyrus  rolls,  and  parchment  (or  skins)  were 
more  often  used.  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  i.  pp.  263-2G8.)  The  latter  was 
mainly  employed  in  "Western  Asia  for  letters  and  all  missive  documents- 
In  Persia,  Ctesias  states  that  it  was  the  ordinaiy  writing  materiaL 
(Diod.  Sic,  ii.  32.  §  4.)  The  root  idea  of  the  word  "■iSO ,  a  book  or 
letter,  seems  to  be  to  scrape  or  shave,  indicating  that  among  the  prim- 
itive Hebrews  also,  parchment  was  the  common  article  thus  used. 

Paper  from  the  papyrus  was  employed  in  Egypt  very  anciently, 
but  is  not  likely  to  have  been  often  transported  to  such  a  distance  as 
Persia ;  and  though  the  plant  may  have  formerly  been  more  abundant 
in  the  Jordan  valley  than  now,  probably  little  material  was  ever  manu- 
factured from  it  to  the  eastward  of  that  stream.  Concerning  the  mak- 
ing and  use  of  such  paper,  we  may  consult  Pliny's  Natural  History 
(xiii.  22-27).  Surfaces  for  writing  were  sometimes  provided  by  means 
of  box-wood,  palm-leaves,  or  linen.  ,  "  Charta  bombycina  "  has  been^ 
used  in  Persia  for  many  centuries,  but  is  not  known  to  have  been 
employed  under  the  Achaemenian  monarchs. 

An  alphabet  of  cursive  characters,'  better  adapted  to  the  pen,  prob- 
ably existed  in  Persia  and  other  countries,  in  additioh  to  the  cunei- 
form or  other  alphabet  for  the  chisel.  The  pen  was  usually  of  reed, 
with  a  metallic  pointed  style  for  wax,  and  still  harder  tools  for  stone 
or  plaster  or  metal ;  and  the  prevalent  ink  was  a  mixture  of  gall  and 
lampblack. 

Interesting  translations  of  letters  upon  papyrus,  written  in  the  time 
of  Rameses  II.,  may  be  found  in  Brugsch's  History  of  Egyi)t  (London, 
1881),  Vol.  ii.  pp.  102-104,  108-114.  (See  also  The  True  Story  of 
the  Exodus,  compiled  from  the  work  of  Henry  Brugsch-Bey,  by  F.  IL 
Underwood,  pp.  82, 176-7.) 

The  following  copy  of  an  ancient  letter  has  been  furnished  by  Dr. 
1« 


122  EXCURSUSES. 

Selah  Merrill,  to  whom  this  Excursus  is  otherwise  indebted.  The  last 
sentence  of  the  quotation  is  worthy  of  special  notice. 

"  Areus,  king  of  the  Lacedemonians,  to  Onias,  sendeth  greeting.  We 
have  met  with  a  certain  writing  whereby  we  have  discovered  that  both 
the  Jews  and  the  Lacedemonians  are  of  one  stock,  and  are  derived 
from  the  kindred  of  Abraham.  It  is  but  just,  therefore,  that  you,  who 
are  our  brethren,  should  send  to  us  about  any  of  your  concerns  as  you 
please.  We  will  also  do  the  same  thing,  and  esteem  your  concerns  as 
our  own,  and  will  look  upon  our  concerns  as  in  common  with  yours. 
Demoteles,  who  brings  you  this  letter,  will  bring  your  answer  back  to 
us.  This  letter  is  foursquare  ;  and  ihe  seal  is  an  eagle,  with  a  dragon 
in  its  claws  "  (Josephus,  Ant.  xii.  4, 10.  Less  perfectly,  1  Maccabees  xii.). 

Letters  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  seem  to  have  been  com- 
monly in  the  form  of  rolls.  The  modern  Persians  make  up  their 
letters  in  the  same  form  with  a  length  of  six  inches,  pasting  a  bit 
of  paper  around  them,  and  sealing  them  with  an  impression  of  ink. 
(Schaff's  Bible  Diet. ;  see  further  upon  this  subject,  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol. 
ii.  p.  370;  iii.  pp.  157,  266  ;  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Writing  ad  Jin.  ; 
art.  Paper,  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  etc.) 

EXOUKSUS   E. 

EARLY  MODES 'OF  EXECUTION.i 

Our  discussion  of  this  subject  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Book  of 
Esther  has  additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  the  argument  is  appli- 
cable to  the  entire  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament.  We  find  there,  it  is 
true,  numerous  executions  of  criminals  and  captives  by  stoning,  by  the 
sword,  and  with  axes,  as  well  as  by  various  barbarous  and  exceptional 
methods  —  by  means  of  saws  and  harrows  of  iron,  and  by  passing  the 
victims  through  the  brick-kiln.  But  these  modes  of  death  we  do  not 
now  propose  to  consider. 

We  address  ourselves  at  once  to  the  question.  What  is  meant  by 
those  words  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  that  are  rendered  "hang"  in  our 
English  Bibles  ?  It  has  been  assumed  that  hanging  necessarily  means 
hanging  by  the  neck  ;  and  so  the  Hebrew  y2> ,  becomes  a  gallows  ;  and 
we  are  shown  the  spectacle  of  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  and  Haman  and 
his  ten  sous  hanging  by  the  neck  in  the  most  approved  style  of  modern 
times.  Indeed,  Jewish  tradition  has  imj)roved  upon  the  simplicity  of 
the  original  idea  in  the  case  of  Haman's  sons,  and  reports  them  as 
hanging,  one  corpse  below  another,  m  three  perjiendicular  lines. 
1  Esther  i.  23  ;  v.  14  ;  vii.  10. 


EXCURSUSES.  123 

And  it  is  said  to  be  for  the  pui'i^ose  of  conforming  the  record  to  this 
traditional  arrangement  that  the  Jewish  copyists  have  given  tlie  names 
in  three  perpendicular  columns,  in  the  MSS. 

The  reader  of  the  Book  of  Esther,  as  given  in  our  authorized  trans- 
lation, would  have  no  doubt  that  the  common  method  of  execution 
under  the  reign  of  Xerxes  was  by  the  halter.  The  reader  of  Hero- 
dotus, on  the  other  hand,  especially  if  he  depends  on  any  English 
translation  extant,  will  infer  that  the  criminal  was  nailed  to  a  cross,  as 
by  the  Romans  several  centuries  later.  Neither  of  these  impressions 
is  correct  The  argument  by  which  this  is  made  apparent  will  com- 
mend itself  to  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar  with  considerable  force. 
And  for  this  reason  we  insert  a  glossary  of  all  the  woi'ds  in  these  lan- 
guages that  have  any  special  pertinence  to  the  discussion.  Our  account 
of  the  use  of  these  words  in  Greek  authors  and  in  the  Bible  will  be 
easily  understood  by  all. 

Glossary.  —  o-Taupds,  a  stake  or  pole  ;  a-Tavpow,  to  impale  ;  Tracro-aXos, 
a  pin  or  peg  ;  Tracro-aXcvw,  to  pin  up  or  hang  on  a  peg  ;  ctkoXoxj/,  a 
sharpened  pole  ;  (TKoXoiri^u),  to  fix  on  a  pole  ;  ys_,  a  tree,  anything  of 
wood,  a  stake  ;  'nr'^^irua-craXo';,  a  pin  or  peg,  a  tent-pin  ;  rtn  and  xbn , 
to  hang  by  impalement  or  otherwise  ;  SJ?^  =  di^ao-KoXoTri'^eiv,  to  hang 
upon  a  stake} 

Sraupo'?.  —  This  is  the  word  commonly  rendered  cross.  But  any- 
one who  will  be  at  the  trouble  to  refer  to  Liddell  and  Scott's  Lexicon, 
will  find  that  the  oraupo's  makes  its  first  ajjpearance  in  Greek  literature 
as  a  stake  split  from  an  oak  or  other  large  tree,  and  driven  down  to 
form  the  support  of  lake  dwellings  ;  as  in  Herodotus  (v.  16),  where 
we  find  this  use  of  it  repeated  in  three  successive  instances ;  or  as  in 
Homer,  Od.  xiv.  11,  where  Eumaeus,  the  swineherd,  is  said  to  have 
driven  them  down  thick  and  close  to  keep  in  the  swine ;  or  II.  xxiv. 
253,  where  they  are  driven  down  to  form  a  palisade  around  the  mil- 
itary hut  of  Achilles.  This  is  the  earliest  use  of  the  o-raupo's.  Next 
we  see  it  in  use  as  a  stake  for  the  impaling  of  criminals.  ' 

Sraupdw.  —  This  is  simply  the  noun  o-ravpos  thrown  into  a  verbal 
form  ;  just  as  we  make  a  verb  of  the  noun  pen  when  we  say,  "  I  penned 
these  lines." 

Thus  (TjavpoiM  from  crTaupd?,  a  stake,  means  to  stake  or  to  drive  down 
stakes  in  the  manner  of  a  palisade.  This  is  its  first  meaning, —  it  pre- 
sents the  process.     Secondly,  it  declares  the  effect  as  regards  the  area 

1  Gcsenius  in  his  Thesaurus  defines  as  follows  :  y?  >  arbor,  hasta,  lignum;  spec, 
de  palo  lifjneo  (Thcs.  p.  1057).  "IP^  ,  clavus,  }7axillus  qui  parieli  injigitur  (Thes.  p. 
643).     yj?^  ,  Hiph.  in  palo  suspendit ;  palo  affixit  (Thcs.  p.  620). 


124  EXCUKSUSES. 

inclosed, —  the  visible  result  of  the  inclosing  process  ;  or  in  other  words, 
it  means  to  stake  out,  or  palisade  a  place.  This  is  called  o-ravpwcris. 
In  a  similar  way  it  was  used  to  denote  the  staking  out  of  a  criminal,  i.e. 
impaling  him.  Herodotus,  commonly  uses  this  verb  with  the  prepo- 
sition dvd,  vp,  prefixed  ;  making  it  to  stake  up,  or  elevate  on  a  stake,  by- 
impalement.  In  the  New  Testament,  on  the  other  hand,  where  we 
find  forty-seven  instances  of  the  use  of  this  verb  (o-rarpo'w),  the  prefixed 
preposition  avd  occurs  but  once  (Heb.  vi.  6),  and  then  with  an  entirely- 
different  meaning,  denoting  repetition,  instead  of  elevation.  Another 
marked  proof  of  the  change  which  the  intervening  centuries  had 
wrought. 

The  (TTavp<xicn'i  of  the  Roman  practice  was  the  nailing  of  the  living 
victim  prostrate  to  the  cross,  the  latter  not  having  yet  been  set  up. 
The  dmo-raupwo-ts  of  the  time  of  Herodotus  was  the  impalement  of  the 
victim  (frequently  after  death  by  the  sword)  on  an  upright  stake ;  thus 
giving  to  the  preposition  dm,  up,  its  original  sense.  Three  hundred 
years  after  the  time  of  Herodotus,  when  Polybius  wrote  of  the  usages 
he  had  observed  among  the  Romans,  he  used  this  same  word  (a-Tavp6<;) 
to  denote  their  way  of  putting  criminals  to  death  on  a  cross.  It  was 
the  best  word  he  could  find  for  such  a  use. 

As  the  stake  was  driven  into  the  ground,  or  when  this  was  impos- 
sible, provided  with  a  base  or  pedestal  to  keep  it  upright,  so  the  cross 
was  set  in  a  hole  that  had  been  dug  in  the  ground.  The  resemblance 
was  quite  sufficient  to  warrant  the  use  of  the  word.  There  was  in 
either  case  an  upright  stake  with  a  human  victim  fastened  upon  it. 
This  accounts  for  the  new  use  of  the  Greek  words  oravpos  and  crraupoo) 
— a  use  which  the  New  Testament  writers  and  Josej^hus  found  already 
established,  and,  of  course,  adopted. 

As  there  are  more  readers  of  the  Greek  Testament  than  of  the 
Greek  of  Herodotus,  a  hundred  of  the  former  to  one  of  the  latter, 
there  is  almost  in  that  proportion  an  unreadiness  to  accept  the  fact  that 
crravpo'i  ever  meant  anything  else  than  a  cross.  Hence,  a  learned 
writer,  with  a  sublime  unconsciousness  that  he  is  maltreating  the  Eng- 
lish language,  opens  the  truth  to  us  in  the  statement  that  "  the  first 
form  of  the  cross  was  a  simple  stake."  ^ 

1  Zoeckler  has  fallen  into  the  same  infelicity  of  language  in  his  important  work, 
'"The  Cross  of  Christ."  While  he  recognizes  to  the  full  the  fact  of  the  ancient 
impalements,  he  speaks  of  them  as  crucifixions.  lie  makes  a  cross  of  a  simple 
stake,  and  of  almost  every  sort  of  thing  to  which  a  human  victim  could  be  at- 
tached, from  the  aavts  to  which  Artayktes  was  pinned,  to  the  rock  to  which  Pro- 
;  iQcthous  was  both  pinned  and  chained. 


EXCURSUSES.  125 

ITao-o-aXo?.  —  This  is  defined  in  our  lexicons  as  a  peg  on  which  to 
hang  clothes,  arms,  etc.  Our  only  concern  with  it  in  this  discussion  is 
as  the  origin  of  the  verb  Trao-o-aXevw. 

Ilao-aaAeva)  is  formed  from  Truo-craXo?  as  trravpocu  (above)  is  from 
o-raupo's.  And  it  means  to  peg  or  to  pin,  or  fasten  to  anything  by 
pegging  or  ])inning,  or  to  hang  up  on  a  peg.  Herodotus  uses  this  verb 
when  he  tells  us  of  the  hanging  up  of  a  tripod,  won  in  the  Grecian 
games,  on  a  peg  in  the  house  of  the  victor  (i.  144).  The  meaning  is 
as  plain  as  when  Homer  hangs  up  or  takes  down  armor  or  cloth- 
ing from  a  -rrdcra-aXoq.  Herodotus  uses  it  with  the  prepositions  Sia, 
throvgh,  or  Trpo?,  to.  prefixed.  In  the  case  of  the  tripod  he  has  it 
7r/jocT7rao-o-aA.eo(j€  rov  TptVoSu.  He  pegged  it  to  his  house,  i.e.  to  the 
wall  of  his  house. 

^k6\o\J/.  —  Anything  pointed,  say  the  lexicons  :  a  sharpened  pole 
or  stake  for  fixing  heads  on,  or  for  impaling.  From  this  is  formed  the 
verb  a-KoXoTri((jj,  commonly  used  by  Herodotus  with  the  prefixed  pre- 
position dvd,  up.  He  uses  it  interchangeably  with  avaaTavpoo).  (vii.  238, 
and  ix.  78.)  Enough  should  be  said  of  these  and  two  or  three  other 
specimens  to  sho'^  how  the  translators  of  Herodotus  have  misled  us. 
The  first  reads  e/ceXeuo-c  aTrora/Aoi'Tas  Tr]v  KecftaXi^v  uvacrTaupajtrat.  The 
other,  AeovtSeo  yap  aTro^^avoj/ros  ei^  ©cp/moTruXeo-i-  MapSonos  t€  koL  Eep^cs 
d7^0Tap,d^'T£s  T7yv  KitftaXrjv  dvearaipoiaav  MapSdi'iov  yap  ai'acTKoXoTrtVas 
TCTLfJioprjaeaL AeoviSrjv. 

The  first,  Rawlinson  carelessly  renders  ''  Xerxes  ordered  his  head 
(the  head  of  Leonidas)  to  be  struck  off,  and  the  trunk  to  be  fastened 
to  a  cross."  The  true  translation  is  "  he  ordered  them  to  cut  off  his 
head  and  fix  it  upon  a  pole."  The  second  is  in  part  a  recapitulation 
of  the  same  incident  by  one  who  is  urging  Pausanias  to  retaliate  by 
treating  the  slain  Mardotiius  in  the  same  way.  Rawlinson  translates 
it :  "  When  Leonidas  was  slain  at  Thermopylae,  Xerxes  and  Mardenius 
commanded  that  he  should  be  beheaded  and  crucified.  (Do  thou  the 
like  by  IMardonius  and  thou  wilt  have  glory  in  Sparta,  and  likewise 
through  the  whole  of  Greece.)  For  by  hanging  him  on  a  cross  thou 
wilt  avenge  Leonidas,  who  was  thy  father's  brother."  A  close  and 
literal  translation  would  render  it :  "  For  when  Leonidas  had  fallen  at 
Thermopylae,  Mardonius  and  Xerxes,  having  cut  off  his  head,  fixed  it 

upon  a  pole.     Having  done  the  like  to  him,  etc For  having  thus 

impaled  Mardonius  (i.e.  his  head),  thou  wilt  avenge  Leonidas,"  etc. 

The  second  narration  of  the  incident  is,  of  course,  to  be  interpreted 
by  the  first.  Placed  side  by  side  their  meaning  is  clear,  and  they 
answer  for  us  the  question  in  what  sense  does  Herodotus  use  the  word. 


126  EXCURSUSES. 

This  makes  it.  certain  that  Astyages  impaled  the  magi  (Herod,  ii.  128) ; 
that  the  jiunishment  from  which  the  Egyptian  physicians  sentenced  by 
Darius  (iii,  132)  were  rescued  was  impalement ;  and  that  the  doom 
(iv.  43)  conditionally  revoked  by  Xerxes,  and  afterwards  inflicted,  was 
the  same. 

The  case  as  regards  Trao-o-aXevw  is  equally  clear,  and  yet  the  trans- 
lations are  equally  misleading.  Herodotus  tells  us  twice  in  different 
books  (referring  in  both  instances  to  the  same  occurrence)  of  pegging 
or  pinning  a  man  to  a  plank.  Beloe  translates  it,  "  crucified  him." 
And  Rawlinson  renders  it,  "  he  nailed  him  to  a  plank  and  left  him 
hanging."  There  are  no  nails  here.  The  rjXoi  of  the  Greek  authors 
had  no  such  meaning.  This  meaning  did  not  make  its  ajipearance  till 
the  Roman  customs  required  it.  The  word  was  not  used  at  first  to 
denote  a  means  of  fastening  anything.  It  meant  simply  a  stud,  or  an 
ornament  on  a  shield,  and  became  afterwards  the  name  for  h  nail,  from 
the  resemblance  which  a  nail-head  bore  to  it.  But  the  word  is  not 
here.  "VVe  have  simply  ^covra  tt/dos  aaviSa  ^Leiraaa-dXevcrav  (vii.  33), 
(TaviSa  irpoa-TraaaraXeva-avTes  avcKpifxaaav  (ix.  120).  The  first  of  these 
should  be  translated  "■  they  pinned  him  through  alive  to  a  plank  " ;  the 
participle  ^wvra  showing  that  it  was  a  case  of  marked  severity  and  bar- 
barism. The  second  passage  should  be  translated  "  having  pinned  him 
to  a  plank  they  hung  him  up." 

There  are  four  examples  of  the  use  of  Tracro-aXeu'w,  in  the  Prometheus 
of  Aeschylus,  which  Burges  has  strangely  rendered  rivet  in  every  in- 
stance. There  is  a  riveting  of  fetters  in  immediate  connection  with  it, 
but  it  is  expressed  by  other  words.  Thus,  55,  56,  "With  this  hammer 
strike  (i.e.  rivet  the  fetters)  about  his  hands  with  strength,  and  pin 
(■n-acrcraXevi)  him  to  the  rock."  64,  65,  "  Now  drive  or  pin  (Trao-craAcue), 
the  merciless  tooth  of  an  adamantine  wedge  right  (Sta/^Tni^)  through 
his  breast."  113,  "  In  fetters,  being  pinned"  (Tracro-aXevros  wv).  19,  20, 
"  I  unwillingly  shall  pin  (TrpocrTrao-craXcvcrw)  thee,  unwilling,  in  thy 
brazen  fetters  to  the  solitary  crag."  So  Herodotus,  as  we  have  seen, 
represents  the  Elaians  as  pinning  Artayktes  through  to  a  plank.  A 
hole  is  of  course  presupposed  in  either  case,  whether  bored  in  the  rock 
or  the  plank  to  receive  the  pin. 

The  way  is  now  prepared  for  the  following  summary :  The  punish- 
ments inflicted  by  Xerxes  succeeded  those  with  which  the  Assyrians  and 
the  Bal)ylonians  and  the  eastern  nations  genei-ally  were  familiar.  These 
are  exhibited  on  the  marbles  and  bronzes  that  have  been  exhumed  from 
the  mounds  of  Assyria.  There  has  not  yet  been  shown  any  example 
of  hanging  by  the  neck,  or  of  fastening  to  a  cross.    There  are  abundant 


EXCURSUSES. 


12' 


examples  of  impalement,  of  which  the  most  ancient,  those  of  the  Balowat 
Gates  (850  r-.c.)-  show  the  impaleinent  to  have  been  per  anum} 


One  slab  shows  us 


In  connection  with  these  are  shown  the  barbarous  amputation  of 
hands  and  feet,  and  the  impalement  of  heads.  A  little  later  we  find 
numerous  impalements  from  below  the  breast. 
three  of  these,  another  fourteen.  Darius  is  said 
to  have  impaled  three  thousand  of  the  nobility 
of  Babylon  when  he  took  that  city. 

ys .  A  tree.  This  w,ord  has  more  meanings 
than  our  word  tree.  We  have  our  axle-tree,,  our 
whiffle-tree,  our  saddle-tree,  our  cross-tree,  and  our 
boot-tree,  as  well  as  our  trees  of  the  forest,  living 
and  dead.     But  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  in  their 

1  The  stake  was  in  some  instances  made  to  traverse  the  body  along  the  spine, 
nearl}'  the  entire  length  of  the  latter.  The  method  of  accomplishing  this  in 
modern  times  as  practised  by  the  Khan  of  Khiva,  has  been  to  m:ike  use  of  two 
carriages,  binding  the  victim  to  the  one,  and  securing  the  stake  to  the  other,  and 
thus  readily  applying  any  amount  of  force  that  might  be  required.  In  some  in- 
stances cords  were  bound  around  the  legs  of  the  victim,  and  thus  he  was  drawn 
down  upon  the  stake.  Instances  of  impalement  by  the  Turks  in  Bosnia,  are  given 
on  the  best  autiiority  as  late  as  1876.  —  Cross  of  Christ,  by  Zocckler,  pp.  61,  62. 

■^  From  bronzes  of  the  Balowat  Gates,  copied  from  facsimile  sheets  published  in 
London.  '  Copied  from  Bonomi. 


128  EXCUESUSES. 

more  than  three  hundred  instances  of  the  use  of  yy ,  show  us  more  than 
one  huiidred  examples  appropriated  to  living  trees ;  more  than  one 
hundred  translated  wood,  equivalent  to  lumber  as  we  use  the  word, 
twenty-five  denoting  fire-wood  or  wood  for  the  altar,  nineteen  translated 
in  the  authorized  version  timber,  eight  translated  stich,  six  translated 
staves,  five  translated  stocks  or  idols  of  wood,  three  translated  staff  (or 
shaft  of  a  spear),  one  transljited  staff  (for  walking),  one  translated 
yokes,  two  translated  bars,  one  translated  boards,  one  translated  planks, 
one  translated  ax-helve,  and  sixteen  which  should  be  translated  stake 
for  impalement. 

Besides  this  word  'j'?  ,  and  rtln  ,  there  are  no  others  used  in  the  Book 
of  Esther  to  express  capital  punishment.  The  showing  from  the  lan- 
guage employed  by  Herodotus,  and  from  the  exhumed  monuments 
would  settle  the  case  for  this  book.  But  as  the  entire  showing  for  the 
Old  Testament  is  to  the  same  effect,  and  comes  within  a  narrow  com- 
pass, and  has  never  been  exhibited  in  any  such  connection  before,  we 
give  exhaustively  all  that  remains. 

*in; .  A  pin  or  peg,  commonly  of  wood,  nearly  equivalent  to  traa-- 
o-aAfcs,  though  more  specifically  used  to  denote  the  tent-pin ;  the  instru- 
ment with  which  Jael  pinned  Sisera  through  the  head  to  the  earth 
(Judges  iv.  12).  The  more  general  use  is  indicated  in  the  parable  of 
the  vine  (Ezek.  xv.  213),  in  the-  questions,  "What  is  the  vine-tree, 
more  than  any  tree,  or  than  a  branch  which  is  among  the  trees  of  the 
forest  ?  Shall  wood  be  taken  thereof  to  do  any  work  ?  Or  will  men 
take  a  pin  {"'V^)  of  it  to  hang  (nibrl=  inf.  of  H^Pi)  any  vessel  thereon?" 
Its  association  in  this  instance  with  nbn ,  and  the  prompt  resort  to  it 
by  Jael  to  pin  Sisera  to  the  earth,  suggests  its  use  in  certain  cases 
where  it  is  not  mentioned  (e.g.  2  Sam.  xxi.  12). 

The  following  are  all  the  cases  in  which  the  word  appears  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures:  (a)  Ex.  xxvii.  19;  {b)  xxxv.  18;  (c)  xxxviii.  20, 
and  31,  twice ;  (d)  xxxix.  40 ;  {e)  Num.  iii.  37  ;  (/)  iv.  42  ;  {g)  Deut. 
xxiii.  13  (14);  (A)  Judg.  iv.  21  (twice)  and  22  ;  {i)  v.  26;  {k)  xvi. 
14,  twice;  {I)  Ezra  ix  8 ;  (m)  Isa.  xxii.  23,  2o  ;  \n)  xxxiii.  20;  (o) 
liv.  2  ;  (/>)  P^zek.  xv.  3  ;  {q)  Zach.  x.  4.  Of  these,  all  that  precede  g  are 
pins  coimected  with  the  tabernacle  furniture ;  ^r  is  a  sort  of  wooden 
trowel  for  digging  In  the  earth  ;  h,  i,  m,  o,  are  tent-pins  ;  /,  n,  q,  and  we 
may  add  p,  are  pegs  for  hanging  clothing,  etc. 

nbpi .  Denotes  to  hang,  without  reference  to  mode,  and  is  the  verb 
most  commonly  used  for  hanging  by  impalement.  There  are  twenty 
examples  of  this  use,  including  one  of  stbn ;  one  of  hanging  by  the  hair 
of  the  head  (the  case  of  Absalom),  and  seven  of  the  hanging  up  of 


EXCUKSUSES.  129 

things  inanimate.  One  of  tlie  earliest  examples  is  that  of  Pharaoh's 
chief  baker,  where  hanging  by  the  neck  is  out  of  the  question,  as  he 
was  first  beheaded. 

The  examples  in  which  r.bn  is  used  otherwise  than  in  connection 
with  capital  punishment,  are  Cant.  iv.  5  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  10  and  11,  where 
it  presents  to  us  the  hanging  of  shields,  bucklers,  and  helmets  on  the 
wall ;  and  Ezek.  xv.  3  in  the  question  concerning  the  vine,  "  "Will  men 
take  a  pin  of-it  to  hang  anything  thereon?"  Also  in  2  Sam.  xviii.  10. 
where  we  are  told  of  Absalom  hung  by  the  hair  of  his  head  in  the  oak; 
Lam.  V.  12,  where  princes  are  said  to  be  hanged  up  by  their  hand;  and 
Job  xxvi.  7,  where  it  is  said  he  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing.  There 
are  nineteen  examples  of  its  use  to  denote  hanging  by  impalement,  of 
which  nine  are  found  in  the  book  of  Esther. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  single  ^  instance  of  the  use  of  ^fbn  in 
2  Sam.  xxi.  12,  obviously  cognate  to  Hbn,  with  the  same  meaning.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  suicide  of  Ahithophel  by  self-strangu- 
lation^ is  declared  by  a  very  different  verb,  viz.  pin,  2  Sam.  xvii.  23. 
And  in  Nahum  ii.  12  (13)  the  participle  (piel)  of  the  latter  verb  is  used 
where  the  people  of  Nineveh  are  presented  under  the  figure  of  a  raging 
lion  that  strangled  enough  for  his  lionesses. 

r;?^.  1.  To  be  out  of  joint,  dislocated  as  a  limb  (Gen.  xxxi.  25). 
(Jacob's  thigh.)  2.  To  be  alienated  from  any  one  (Iliph).  To  hang 
up  on  a  stake,  to  impale,  di/ao-KoXoTri'^eiv,  in  which  punishment  the  limbs 
were  dislocated  or  broken,  used  in  Num.  xxv.  4  and  2  Sam.  xxi.  6,  9, 13. 
(Gesenius.)  The  last  three  instances  pertain  to  the  case  of  Saul's 
descendants  ;  a  judgment  executed  upon  his  family  to  complete  the 
punishment  of  his  wickedness. 

Of  Saul  it  is  distinctly  declared  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  0)  that  he  was 
beheaded.  The  same  was  probably  true  of  the  others  who  were  im- 
paled with  him ;  fastened  (verses  10  and  12)  to  the  wall  of  Beth'shan. 
This  fastening  is  described  (2  Sam.  xxi.  12)  as  a  hanging;  where  sbn 
is  used.  Doubtless  this  was  a  case  for  the  in;  ,  equivalent  to  Trao-o-aAo?. 
They  pinned  him  to  the  wall. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  word  rendered  tree,  stands  for  almost  anything 
that  is  made  of  wood,  and  is  the  word  that  would  naturally  be  used,  as 
it  is,  to  denote  a  stake  for  impalement.  The  word  rendered  pin,  or 
peg,  like  the  Greek  Trao-aaXo?.  is  used  for  a  certain  class  of  executions 

1  The  jtarticiple  (paul)  of  this  word  is  used  Dcut.  xxviii.  66,  and  Hosea  xi.  7. 
But  these  examples  are  not  pertinent  to  the  discussion. 

2  It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  case  of  Judas  also,  n  word  (oWj^Ioto)  denoting 
self-strangulation,  rather  than  the  usual  word  for  hanging,  is  used. 

17 


130  EXCURSUSES. 

or  post  mortem  exposures.  And  the  three  words  rendered  "hang"  (say- 
ing nothing  of  that  employed  with  reference  to  self-strangulation,  but 
never  used  in  respect  to  public  execution)  are  applied  in  cases  where 
decapitation  had  taken  place,  and  where  other  circumstances  show  that 
impalement,  and  not  hanging  by  the  neck,  must  have  been  intended.  If 
we  would  read  the  Old  Testament  aright,  we  must  understand  every 
case  of  hanging  on  a  tree,  exeept  that  of  Absalom  (caught  by  his  hair) 
as  denoting  impalement  on  a  stake,  instead  of  suspension  by  a  halter. 

EXOUESUS  F. 

THE    JEWS    IN   EXILE.i 

It  is  proposed  in  this  Excursus  to  give  some  proximate  idea,  from 
the  data  we  have,  of  the  condition  of  the  Jewish  exiles  in  the  time  of 
Xerxes.  The  participle  which  Haman  applies  to  them,  ijsp ,  rendered 
in  the  Septuagint  Steo-Trap/AeVov,  from  the  same  root  as  the  familiar 
Stao-TTopa  used  in  the  Apocrypha  and  the  New  Testament,  shows  the 
tendency  to  become  cosmopolitan  already  manifesting  itself  among  that 
wonderful  people.  Haman  says  they  were  dispersed  among  all  the 
provinces  of  the  empire.  This  dispersion  must  have  been  in  a  great 
part  voluntary,  as  they  had  passed  out  of  the  condition  of  bondmen  to 
be  bought  and  sold.  They  had  the  same  liberty,  both  civil  and  reli- 
gious, as  the  other  nationalities  of  the  empire.  The  predicted  misery  ^ 
of  their  doom  of  exjoatriation  had  been  hard  to  bear  while  the  power  of 
Babylon  remained  unbroken,  but  almost  immediately  afterward  their 
status  was  essentially  changed.  The  conquerors  were  naturally  their 
deliverers  and  friends.  "Wherever  the  jMedes  and  Persians  found  dis- 
affection or  hatred  of  the  Babylonish  power  there  they  found  their 
allies  and  helpers,  and  were  predisposed  to  favor  them.  The  Jewish 
people  have  always  shown  a  marked  ability  to  make  the  best  of  the 
most  adverse  circumstances,  and  still  more  to  turn  to  account  every 
change  that  has  been  made  in  their  favor. 

When  Cyrus  issues  his  decree  giving  them  permission  to  return  to 
the  land  of  their  fathers,  these  sons  of  the  captives  do  not  present  the 
appearance  of  bondmen  just  escaping  from  their  chains.  They  are  men 
capable  of  patriotism,  and  of  every  high  and  noble  feeling.  They  have 
prospered  even  in  their  captive  state,  and  much  more  in  the  circum- 
stances of  their  emergence  from  it.  It  is  a  delightful  pictui-e  that  is 
sketched  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,^  where  he  presents  the  daughter  of 
Zion  as  lifting  up  her  eyes  like  one  awaking  from  a  dream,  and  saying 

1  Esther  iii.  8.  -  Deut.  xxviii.  66,  67.  ^  jg^,  ^lix.  21. 


EXCURSUSES.  131 

in  lior  heart,  "Who  liatli  begotten  me  these,  seeing  I  have  lost  my  chil- 
dren and  am  desolate ;  a  captive  and  removing  to  and  fro  ;  and  who 
hath  brought  up  these  ?  Behold  I  was  left  alone ;  these,  where  had 
they  been?"  It  was  the  first  generation  of  the  captives,  —  those  who 
felt  the  strong  tie  of  home  and  native  land  from  which  they  had  been 
torn  away,  —  that  '*  hanged  their  harps  on  the  willows  by  the  rivers  of 
Babylon,  and  wept  as  they  remembered  Ziou."  Their  children  knew 
no  other  home  but  the  land  in  which  they  were  born,  except  as  the 
religious  instruction,  and  the  history  with  which  they  were  made 
familiar,  and  nursery  hymns,  brought  the  past  and  the  distant  to  their 
minds.  With  many  in  the  second  and  third  generation  even  this  im- 
pression was  deep  and  strong  enough  to  create  a  yearning  for  the  holy 
land  and  the  temple-service.  As  a  religious  feeling  it  never  died  out 
till  the  temple  was  finally  destroyed  by  the  Romans.  As  a  sentiment 
it  is  living  still,  as  is  attested  by  the  wailing-place  of  the  Jews  which  is 
kept  in  weekly  remembrance.  When  the  strength  of  this  feeling  was 
put  to  the  test  by  the  several  appeals  that  were  made  in  the  times  of 
Zerubbabel  and  Ezra  there  were  many  thousands  to  respond,  and  their 
caravans  were  as  armies  of  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord.  But  there  was 
a  larger  number  whose  engagements  and  interests  had  already  become 
a  tie  of  sufficient  strength  to  hold  them  to  a  permanent  home  in  other 
lands.^  It  has  been  estimated  that  those  who  returned  to  Palestine  in 
connection  with  the  three  above-mentioned  rallies  were  to  those  who 
preferred  to  remain  in  their  scattered  and  distant  homes  about  in  the 
proportion  of  one  to  six. 

When  we  come  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  this  larger  portion 
outside  of  Palestine  as  regards  their  outward  prosperity,  and  their  in- 
tellectual, moral,  and  spiritual  state,  there  are  some  points  that  may  be 
easily  established.  We  should  infer  from  the  whole  subsequent  history 
of  the  Hebrew  nation  that  they  were  prompt  to  discovei'  every  oppor- 
tunity to  rise  above  poverty  and  want,  and  to  find'  in  every  employ- 
ment that  was  open  to  them  an  avenue  to  sure  and  steady  gain.  It 
has  been  the  story  of  Jacob  and  Laban,  over  and  over  again,  through  all 
the  ages,  and  all  over  the  world.  What  we  might  regard  as  thus  infer- 
eutially  certain  ,in  the  time  of  Xerxes  is  very  clearly  shown  by  the 

1  Ewald  says,  "  Very  many  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  especially  of  the  second  gen- 
eration, without  wavering  in  their  fidelity  to  the  commands  of  Jahvch,  had  allied 
themselves  with  the  new  fatherland  upon  which  they  had  I)cen  cast  in  Chaldea, 
and  elsewhere,  so  that  they  did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  jicnnission  which  was 
given  them  to  return.  Great  numbers  of  individuals  also,  in  smaller  or  larger 
groups,  had  already  been  thrown  among  the  heathen  before  the  great  dispersion 
and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem."  —  History  of  Israel,  "Vol.  iv.  pp.  33,  34. 


132  EXCURSUSES. 

stipulation  of  Hainan,  in  which  he  engaged  to  pay  into  the  king's 
treasury  a  large  sum  of  money  to  be  derived  from  the  confiscated 
estates  of  the  Jews.  Doubtless  he  understood  the  case  well  enough  to 
be  sure  that  he  could  pay  the  ten  thousand  talents,  and  yet  be  a  large 
gainer  by  the  transaction.  The  same  thing  could  be  shown  from  the 
testimony  of  the  post-exilic  prophets,  and  their  numerous  complaints 
of  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  their  brethren  to  overdo  in  their  zeal  for 
commercial  thrift.  As  it  was  with  the  returned  exiles,  so  it  was  with 
those  who  did  not  return.  In  this  matter  of  unfailing  industry  and 
shrewd  bargaining  the  Jews  of  that  day  are  proved  to  have  been  true 
to  the  national  instinct  and  history,  and  their  condition,  of  course, 
became,  as  Haman  saw  it,  one  of  growing  prosperity. 

We  are  impressed  with  the  obvious  fact  of  their  ready  absorption  as 
a  part  of  the  acknowledged  population  of  the  land.  They  seem  to 
have  been  brought  upon  a  common  level  with  the  other  nationalities  of 
that  highly  composite  empire.  There  is  no  hint  of  a  disposition  to 
raise  any  question  in  regard  to  this  in  any  quarter,  until  it  was  raised 
by  the  malicious  and  vengeful  spirit  of  Haman.  But  we  are  not  to 
think  of  them  as  the  less  a  distinct  people  ;  they  kept  themselves  as 
separate  from  the  Gentile  world  as  at  any  period  of  their  history.  The 
more  they  felt  the  loss  of  the  peculiar  privileges  of  their  native  land, 
the  more  they  clung  to  such  as  repaained.  Our  knowledge  of  their  his- 
tory subsequent  to  the  times  of  Esther  and  Mordecai  throws  back  a 
strong  light  upon  those  earlier  times.  The  writings  of  Daniel,  the 
Lints  that  are  scattered  through  the  post-exilic  prophets  and  psalms,  the 
apocryphal  books,  those  of  the  Alexandrine  Jews,  and  the  later  llabbis 
and  Josephus,  the  New  Testament,  the  early  Christian  fathers,  and 
the  allusions  that  have  been  traced  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics, 
all  yield  a  testimony  more  or  less  distinct  in  regard  to  the  condition  of 
the  Jews  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  We 
certainly  know  that  they  brought  their  sacred  books  previously  written 
safely  through  that  stormy  period,  that  they  kept  alive  the  venerated 
traditions  pertaining  to  the  beginnings  of  their  national  life  and  their 
ancestral  glory,  and  that  they  cherished  the  steadfast  hope  that  God 
would  redeem  his  ]ieople. 

This  opens  to  us  a  glimpse  of  what  the  diasp.ra  were  doing  at  this 
very  time  for  themselves  and  for  the  world.^     It  would  be  a  great  mis- 

1  Wc  may  here  quote  the  i)rofound  remark  of  Ewald  (Vol.  iv.  p.  28).  "  In  so 
far  as  wc  may  still  speak  of  a  people  of  Israel,  this  expression  must  now  be 
taken  in  the  sense  which  it  ought  really  to  have  had  from  the  beginning,  but  to 
which  it  has  never  yet  corresponded,  viz.  that  of  the  messenger  of  the  true  God 


EXCURSUSES.  133 

take  to  suppose  that  they  were  so  ahsorbed  in  the  strife  for  worldly 
gain  that  nothin;;  more  or  better  cculd  be  said  of  them.  The  stock  that 
could  yield  such  men  as  Daniel  and  his  three  companions,  and  Zerub- 
babel  and  Ilaggai,  and  Nehemiah  and  Ezra,  and  the  faithful  men  who 
labored  with  them,  did  not  fail  to  produce  thousands  of  inferior  lights, — 
less  luminous,  but  not  less  true,  —  and  their  influence  reached  and  mod- 
ified the  current  of  religious  thought  around  them.  At  first,  as  was 
natural,  we  find  them  bowed  down  under  the  sense  of  their  own  calam- 
ities, and  dwelling  in  bitterness  upon  the  wrongs  which  they  had  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of, their  oppressors.  "0  daughter  of  Babylon," 
they  sang,  ''  happy  shall  he  be  that  rewardeth  thee  as  thou  hast  served 
us."  ^  Indeed,  we  may  trace  something  like  a  progression  in  their 
psalms  of  the  period  of  the  exile  from  the  simple  consciousness  of 
wrong  and  outrage  and  the  yearning  for  justice,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxix,  to  the 
longing  for  deliverance,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxx.,  and  to  the  testimony  of  praise 
as  a  means  of  enlightening  the  heathen  among  whom  their  lot  was 
cast,  as  we  see  in  Ps.  xcvi. :  "  Declare  his  glory  among  the  heathen, 
his  wonders  among  all  people  ;  for  Jehovah  is  great,  and  greatly  to  be 
praised ;  he  is  to  be  feared  above  all  gods.     For  all  the  gods  of  the 

nations  are  nothings ;  ^  but  Jehovah  made  the  heavens 0  worship 

Jehovah  in  the  beauty  of  holiness ;  fear  before  him  all  the  earth ;  say 
among  the  heathen,  Jehovah  reigneth."  The  people  who  could  utter 
such  a  testimony  for  Jehovah  in  their  very  songs  among  the  heathen 
must  have  exerted  an  important  influence  upon  them.  Much  has  been 
said  of  the  waning  of  idolatry  in  the  Gentile  world  in  the  centuries 
immediately  preceding  the  Christian  era  ;  but  it  has  not  been  common 
to  ascribe  this  with  sufficient  distinctness  to  the  direct  and  indirect 
testimony  of  the  chosen  people  of  God. 

This  brings  us  to  another  fact  of  great  importance  pertaining  to  the 
period  of  the  exile, —  the  change  which  it  wrought  upon  the  Jews  them- 
selves. Every  reader  of  the  Old  Testament  must  have  been  deeply 
impressed  with  the  constant  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Hebrew  peo- 
ple from  the  days  of  the  Egyptian  bondage  to  drift  into  the  idolatry 
which  prevailed  around  them.  It  required  the  stern  prohibitions  of  the 
decalogue,  and  the  constant  admonitions  of  the  prophets,  and  the  frequent 
judgments  of  God  to  restrain  them,  and  even  these  were  insufficient. 
I>ut  now  came  the  final  and  efficacious  remedy.     It  was  one  of  the 

to  the  heathen,  and  his  instrument  for  leading  them  to  himself.  This  alone  must 
henceforth  he  held  fast  as  its  hij^hest  mission;  and  only  in  this  new  and  fjlorilied 
life  can  it  retain  any  true  life  at  all." 

1  Ps.  cxxxvii.  8.  '  trh'^'b^ 


134  EXCUESUSES. 

marked  results  of  their  captive  state.  This  old  tendency  to  idolatry  was 
overcome  and  brought  to  an  end.  The  prophets  complain  of  it  no  more. 
The  sins  which  they  are  called  to  rebuke  are  of  quite  another  type. 

The  subject  race  did  not  take  warmly  to  the  religion  of  their  con- 
querors. As  they  saw  it  in  its  naked  deformity,  with  no  intermixture 
of  their  own  traditional  feasts  and  historic  associations,  it  became  repul- 
sive to  them,  and  only  rendered  the  desolateness  and  homesickness  in 
which  they  pined  the  more  intense.  And  when  they  passed  from  the 
Babylonian  to  the  Persian  control  they  found  themselves  almost  as 
remote  from  idolatrous  practices  as  in  the  best  days  of  David  and  Solo- 
mon. The  followers  of  Zoroaster,  whatever  else  they  may  have  been, 
were  not  in  the  ordinary  sense  idolaters.  If  Cyrus,  in  spite  of  his  early 
training  yielded  to  some  of  the  idolatrous  usages  of  Mesopotamia,  it 
was  only  the  compliance  of  a  politic  ruler,  and  not  the  impulse  of  con- 
science or  the  zeal  of  conviction.  We  see  what  the  inherited  sentiment 
of  the  Persians  was  in  the  iconoclastic  fury  of  Cambyses.-^  "What  was 
begun  in  the  disgust  of  the  Jews  at  the  idolatry  of  Babylon  was  com- 
IDleted  in  the  sympathy  which  they  found  among  a  people  whose 
monotheism  was  older  than  the  days  of  Abraham.  We  may  well  pause 
and  admire  that  Providence  that  had  preserved  through  all  these  cen- 
turies, far  away  from  Palestine,  beyond  the  land  of  Shinar,  in  the  heart 
of  Asia,  this  simple  faith  in  the  one  living  and  true  God.  Egypt  with 
all  its  splendors  of  art  and  power,  the  Phoenicians  with  their  extended 
commerce,  Assyria  with  its  far-reaching  prowess  and  control,  and  all 
the  cities  of  Mesopotamia  under  the  Babylonian  power,  had  fallen  into 
the  grossest  and  most  revolting  polytheism.  The  Hebrews  before  the 
exile  were  only  the  too  apt  pupils  of  their  idolatrous  neighbors.  It  was 
the  constant  and  too  often  unsuccessful  labor  of  the  projihets  to  hold 
them  back,  or  to  recover  them  from  this  apostasy  from  the  God  of 
their  fathers.  But  here,  so  far  away  in  the  bosom  of  the  continent, 
dwelt  a  people  that  without  the  advantages  of  the  Hebrews,  without 
their  oracles  or  their  prophets,  clung  with  persistence  to  the  one  cen- 
tral truth  which  the  latter  were  so  willing  to  cast  away.  And  now 
when  the  final  cure  of  the  evil  was  to  be  wrought  out  for  the  Jews  in 
their  exile,  they  find  themselves  in  contact  with  a  people  who  have  for 
ages  —  indeed,  we  may  say  from  the  first  —  given  little  or  no  counte- 
nance to  idolatry.  This  must  have  been  an  important  factor  in  the 
remedy  which  divine  providence  had  prepared  for  the  healing  of  that 
old  spiritual  disease  of  the  chosen  people. 

It  is  natural  that  the  inquiry  should  be  raised,  what,  if  anything,  was 
1  See  Herod,  iii.  29  and  38. 


EXCURSUSES.  135 

gained  to  tlie  Hebrew  mind,  in  respect  to  knowledge,  clearness  of 
understanding,  penetration  of  divine  themes,  and  mental  furniture  in 
the  widest  sense,  by  this  more  intimate  contact  with  the  Gentile  world? 
In  this  inquiry  we  may  include  both  their  contact  with  the  Zoroastrians 
and  magi  of  the  east,  and  afterward  with  the  Greek  philosophers  of  the 
west.  "We  are  at  no  loss  to  discover  a  growing  care  for  their  own 
sacred  writings  and  a  deeper  reverence  for  the  truth.  As  the  super- 
stitions of  the  other  nations  lost  power  over  their  minds  they  were 
drawn  to  deeper  meditation  upon  the  neglected  treasures  of  heavenly 
wisdom  that  were  stored  up  for  them  in  the  books  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets.  The  powers  of  good  and  evil  became  more  sharply  defined,, 
and  acquired  a  new  vividness  and  reality.  Possibly  something  was 
contributed  from  tlie  Oriental  exaggerations  of  the  influence  and  power 
of  the  spirit  that  worked  for  evil,  so  that  the  personality  and  work  of 
Satan  entered  more  distinctly  into  their  faith.  They  studied  the  reve- 
lations of  the  prophets,  and  caught  the  foregleams  of  the  future  which- 
they  contain,  and  especially  of  the  promised  Messiah.  If  there  were 
in  Mesopotamia  and  Persia  remains  of  the  old  Eden  prophecy,  and  of 
oracles  now  lost  that  were  kindred  to  those  that  Balaam  was  inspired 
to  utter,  these  miglit  have  reacted  upon  the  Hebrew  thought ;  while 
this  in  turn  created  a  deep  and  widespread  undercurrent  of  expectation,, 
such  as  disclosed  itself  in  the  journey  of  the  magi  at  the  time  of  the 
Saviour's  birth. 

Authors  from  the  time  of  the  Christian  fathers,  and  even  that  of  the 
classic  heathen  writers,  to  our  own  day,  have  too  easily  contented  them- 
selves with  noting  the  fact  of  the  decay  of  heathenism.  They  point 
out  the  growing  scepticism  and  want  of  confidence  in  the  deities  whose 
temples  rose  in  every  city,^and  whose  myths  filled  so  much  of  the  early 
literature ;  but  they  make  too  little  of  this  one  potent  cause.  Here  was 
a  widespread,  almost  world-wide,  testimony  against  the 'polytheism  of 
the  world.  It  was  more.  It  was  the  exhibition  of  a  grander  faith.  It 
put  multitudes  upon  questioning  that  which  they  had  never  questioned 
before,  and  upon  doubting  that  which  they  had  never  doubted  before. 
It  was  the  solvent  that  entered  quietly  into  the  old  systems,  and  weak- 
ened their  coherence.  It  was  the  leaven  that  gradually  changed  the 
l^opular  thought. 

The  Loss  of  the  Temple.  — Among  the  changes  to  which  we  see  the 
Jewish  people  endeavoring  to  accommodate  themselves  was  the  loss  of 
their  temple.  What  was  to  become  of  their  central  national  service, — 
those  daily  offerings  in  which  they  had  seemed  to  be  ser\-ing  God  in  a 
national  sense  ?     Every  Jew  felt  that  it  was  a  service  of  the  whole  peo 


136  EXCURSUSES. 

pie,  and  that  he  liad  a  part  in  it.  But  now  that  their  temple  was  gone, 
and  the  holy  city  in  ruins,  it  seemed  that  an  essential  part  of  their  ritual 
and  of  their  national  life  had  been  stricken  out.  They  felt  themselves 
cut  off  from  setting  up  another  Jerusalem,  and  building  another  temple 
in  the  land  of  strangers,  even  if  their  captive  condition  had  left  this  in 
their  power. 

It  was  but  once,  so  far  as  we  can  gather  from  history,  that  they 
undertook  this,^  and  then  it  proved  a  failure.  The  most  that  the 
devout  Jew  could  do  was  to  imagine  a  temple  where  the  temple  once 
stood,  or  to  think  of  its  ruins  as  a  remnant  of  the  temple,  —  a  rudi- 
mental  remnant,  from  which  it  was  one  day  to  spring  into  being  again, 
—  and  turn  his  face  with  Daniel  toward  the  poor  remains.  It  was 
something  gone ;  something  stricken  out  of  their  divinely  appointed 
round  of  service  ;  and  a  prop  on  which  their  spirits  had  leaned  in  exile 
taken  away.  They  must  live  in  the  faith  which  the  prophecies  of  a 
restoration  inspired.  This  state  of  things  continued  till  the  rebuilding 
of  the  temple  by  Zerubbabel. 

77ie  Synagogue  System.  —  One  of  the  produ-cts  of  the  period  of  exile, 
was  the  synagogue  worship.  Some  germs  of  this  we  discover  at  an 
earlier  day.  The  men  who  were  trained  in  the  schools  of  the  prophets 
must  have  had  some  way  of  communicating  with  the  iDeojile.  The  cul- 
tivation which  they  received  suggests  regular  and  systematic  work. 
Some  of  the  movements  of  Elisha  suggest  a  periodical  service  held 
among  the  people.  It  would  be  a  very  natural  device  to  resist  the 
ispread  of  the  Baal  worship  and  the  tendency  to  religious  declension. 
It  would  be  all  the  easier  for  the  exiles  to  make  the  synagogue  a  rally- 
ing-point  and  a  means  of  edification  if  they  had  made  trial  of  it  before. 

In  some  way  they  had  learned  and  could  sing  the  songs  of  Zion. 
They  had  their  harps  to  accompany  the  song.  If  they  refused  to  sing 
these  songs  for  the  amusement  of  the  heathen,  it  does  not  follow  that 
they  never  used  them  in  worship.  We  should  infer,  on  the  contrary,  that 
it  was  from  some  such  use  that  the  heathen  learned  that  they  had  them. 
There  was  some  way  and  some  place  for  gathering  the  Jews  together 
in  Shushan  for  religious  purposes,  as  Esther  very  well  knew,  and  as 

1  From  several  curious  statements  in  Josephus  (see  Ant.  B.  13,  chap.  3,  sec.  2 
and  3;  Wars,  B.  1,  chap.  1,  sec.  1,  and  Wars,  B.  7,  chap.  10,  sec.  3),  it  appears 
that  Onias,  the  son  cf  Onias  III.,  and  legitimate  heir  of  the  high-priestl-.ood,  hav- 
ing been  excluded  from  that  dignity,  took  refuge  in  Egypt.  Coming  into  ftivor 
there  with  Ptolemy  Philomctor  and  Cleopatra,  he  obtained  permission  to  build  in 
Leonto])olis,  in  the  nomc  of  Heliopolis,  a  tem])lc  similar  to  that  at  Jerusalem.  Onias 
availed  himself  of  this  permission,  and  built  the  temple  and  became  its  priest;  and 
ihc  Mosaic  ritual  was  celebrated  there  in  the  Greek  language  for  many  years. 


EXCURSUSES.  137 

Mordecai  proved  wlieu,  in  compliance  with  her  wish,  he  assemljled  them 
for  fasting  and  prayer.  In  the  time  of  Malachi,  under  the  admonitions 
of  the  prophet,  we  are  told  "  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one 
to  another  "  ;  and  this  was  specially  commended,  and  became  a  means 
of  discerning  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  ;  between  them  that 
served  God,  and  them  that  served  him  not.  This  strongly  suggests  the 
synagogue  assembly. 

The  74th  Psalm,  which  it  would  seem  must  have  been  written  soon 
after  the  wasting  of  Judea  by  the  Chaldeans,  —  complains  that  "  they 
have  burned  up  all  the  synagogues  of  God  in  the  land."  The  objec- 
tion that  has  been  made  to  this  translation  begs  the  question.  The 
obvious  sense  of  the  original  assumes  that  there  were  structures,  not  in 
one  place,  but  in  many  places,  where  assemblies  were  held ;  and  that 
these  were  structures  that  could  be  burned.^  "We  need  not  insist  that 
they  had  attained  to  the  full  character  of  synagogues  in  the  later  sense 
of  that  word.  But  we  see  here  the  beginning,  —  the  upspriuging  of 
the  synagogue  system.  It  would  take  time  to  get  it  firmly  rooted  and 
established.  But  these  pre-Messianic  centuries  were  the  period  in  which 
it  was  especially  needed  ;  and  these  were  the  centuries  in  which  it  was 
done.  The  day  came  in  which  there  were,  according  to  Josephus, 
four  hundred  synagogues  in  Jerusalem.  The  existence  of  seven  syna- 
gogues in  Rome  has  been  definitely  established,  and  probably  there 
were  others.  Indeed,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  the  almost  universal  fact, 
that  there  were  synagogues  wherever  there  were  Jews.-  Each  of  these 
was  a  centre  not  only  of  common  religious  interests,  but  of  much  beside. 
They  were  intimately  connected  with  each  other  and  with  their  com- 
mon centre,  Jerusalem.  Every  Jew,  however  far  away,  regarded  him- 
self as  a  member  of  the  chosen  people,  and  endeavored  to  keep  the 
bond  of  union  fresh  and  strong.     He  paid  yearly  his  temple-tax,  sent 

1  Compare  all  the  renderings  of  ^''Si'C  in  the  Old  Test.,  viz.  "  times,"  "  seasons," 
"  set  times,"  "  appointed  times,"  "  feasts,"  "  assembly,"  "  congregation,"  "  place 
of  assembly,"  "solemn  feast,"  "  solemnities,"  " solemn  day,"  etc.,  some  two  hun- 
dred examples  in  all ;  only  one  of  them  represents  anything  that  could  bo  burned. 
It  is  only  what  we  should  expect,  that  when  we  find  the  word  requiring  to  be 
translated  "congregation,  or  assembly,"  in  more  than  one  hundred  instances,  it 
should  sometimes  bb  put  for  the  place  or  building  in  which  the  assembly  is  accus- 
tomed to  be  gathered  ;  the  container  being  put  for  the  thing  contained,  precisely 
as  we  use  the  word  church  in  common  speech  for  that  which  contains  a  church.  The 
expression  "all  the  synagogues  of  God  in  the  land,"  "j'T-^^  ^^  "'l?:'"^  ''9  must  be 
severely  wrested  to  be  made  to  signify  simply  the  temple  at  Jerusalem. 

2  The  proscuchac,  or  "praying  places,"  near  the  shore  of  the  sea  or  some  river's 
side  were  rudimcntal  anticipations  of  synagogues  to  be  built  whenever  the  resident 
Jews  should  be  of  sufficient  number  to  undertake  it.     See  Greek  of  Acts  xvi.  13. 

18 


138  EXCURSUSES. 

offerings  and  gifts  to  Jerusalem,  and  once,  at  least,  in  his  life  went  up  to 
visit  the  holy  city  and  to  keep  the  feast.  The  Supreme  Council  in  Jeru- 
salem sent  annually  the  calendar  of  festivals  to  the  congregations  of  the 
dispersion,  communicated  to  them  important  decisions,  and  took  care  that 
they  received  information  of  all  events  which  concerned  the  Jewish  people. 

The  Great  Synagogue.  —  Correlated  to  the  synagogue  system,  was 
what  was  called  the  Great  Synagogue  ;  a  body  of  men  at  Jerusalem  to 
whom  the  Jewish  writers  ascribe  an  important  part  in  the  editing  of 
the  sacred  books,  and  in  forming  and  guarding  the  institutions  and 
traditions  of  their  nation.  They  tell  us  that  it  began  in  the  time  of 
Ezra.  Doubtless,  its  rudiments  appeared  about  that  time,  as  it  is  very 
certain  that  the  work  which  he  undertook  is  afterv/ards  found  to  be  in 
their  hands  for  its  further  accomplishment.  The  following  are  some 
of  the  things  which  we'  find  ascribed  to  them  :  "  The  gathering  and 
sifting  of  the  sacred  books,  so  far  as  they  had  been  rescued  from  the 
great  catastrophe  of  the  exile ;  their  threefold  division  ;  the  introduction 
of  a  new  alphabet,  as  well  as  of  vowel-signs  and  accents ;  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  Pentateuch  into  sections ;  the  establishment  of  an  order 
of  worship  for  the  synagogues ;  the  adoption  of  various  liturgical  forms, 
particularly  the  eighteen  so-called  benedictions ;  stricter  rules  for  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  other  festival  days  ;  the  change  by 
which  the  year  that  had  begun  with  Nisan  was  made  to  begin  with 
Tisri ;  the  abolition  of  slavery  for  native-born  Israelites  ;  the  more  rig- 
orous observance  of  the  Sabbatic  year;  sharper  and  more  extended 
regulations  in  regard  to  things  clean  and  unclean ;  and  a  new  exalta- 
tion of  the  virtue  of  alms-giving."  ^ 

Change  of  Language.  —  We  come  next  to  a  change  which,  though 
.not  strictly  religious,  had  an  important  bearing  upon  the  oracles  of 
religion,  and  the  clearer  conceptions  of  mankind  on  this  great  subject: 
the  change  that  passed  upon  language.  This,  as  regards  the  matter 
in  hand,  was  twofold.  The  Hebrew  was  becoming  a  dead  language, 
.and  a  modified  Chaldaic,  written  in  the  same  characters,  was  taking  its 
place.  Still,  the  written  Hebrew  Scriptures  continued  to  hold  their 
place,  as  they  do  in  the  synagogues  to  this  day ;  a  marvellous  illustra- 
tion of  the  profound  remark  of  Dr  Fcabody,  that  a  dead  language,  if 
Tised  in  any  way,  cannot  be,  like  those  of  modern  times,  a  constantly 
<lying  language ;  but  is  all  the  more  a  living  language,  because  it  is 
dead.  Or  to  strip  the  representation  of  its  paradoxical  form,  a  dead 
language  is  not  subject  to  change.  It  locks  up  its  treasures  and  holds 
them.  You  may  question  it  in  any  century,  the  first  or  the  nine- 
1  Condensed  from  Bissell  on  the  Apocrypha,  pp.  10,  11. 


EXCURSUSES.  130 

teeuth,  and  it  gives  tlie  same  auswer.  This  is  what  the  Hebrew  has 
done.  Meanwhile,  hke  the  Latin,  it  has  been  kept  in  constant  use. 
And  the  Jews  have  now  their  weekly  papers  published  in  the  Hebrew 
language  for  the  use  of  the  learned  Rabbis,  and  such  other  of  the 
Jewish  people  as  have  kept  up  their  knowledge  of  the  ancient  tongue. 
When  the  Syro-Chaldaic  —  which  differs  about  as  much  from  the 
Hebrew  as  the  modern  Greek  does  from  the  ancient  —  became  the 
language  of  the  Jews  of  Mesopotamia  and  of  Palestine  their  learned 
men  began  to  write  their  Targums,  or  paraphrases  of  the  text  of  the 
Old  Testament,  giving  us  what  may  almost  be  called  a  translation  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  another  language.  The  Jewish  historians 
connect  this  with  the  early  practice  —  of  which  some  trace  appears  in 
the  Book  of  Ezra  —  of  appointing  men  to  exjjlain  the  sacred  text  as 
it  was  read  in  public,  verse  by  verse.  That  which  was  thus  delivered 
was  not  at  first  allowed  to  be  written,  and  was  never  allowed  to  be  read 
from  a  manuscript,  for  fear  the  people  might  confound  it  with  the 
sacred  text.  Thus  the  reading  of  the  text  was  by  one  man ;  the  ex- 
planation by  another.  This  explanation,  as  the  language  changed, 
approximated  to  the  idea  of  a  translation,  but  was  more  diffuse.  There 
can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  "  meturgeman,"  *  as  this  ofScial  was 
called,  derived  his  material  from  some  other  meturgeman,  and  he  from 
another ;  and  all  mainly  from  some  respectable  and  competent  original 
source ;  for  the  meturgeman  was  not  held  in  very  high  respect,  and  this 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  make  him  a  small 
compensation  ;  and  "  no  sign  of  blessing,"  it  was  said,  "  could  rest  upon 
the  profit  made  by  their  calling,  since  it  was  money  earned  on  the  Sab- 
bath." If  these  men  stumbled,  or  missed  the  mark,  they  were  liable 
to  be  stopped  and  silenced  in  the  most  ignominious  and  public  manner. 
This  shows  that  the  more  intelligent  of  the  people  became  pretty  familiar 
with  their  deliverances,  and  that  they  were  very  much  alike.  The  time 
came  that  their  learned  Eabbis  felt  it  to  be  imporLant  to  commit  their 
utterances  to  writing.  And  this  writing  bears  the  name  of  Tcu-gum, 
from  same  root  as  meturgeman.  This  is  the  centre  or  core  of  a  vast 
body  of  Jewish  literature,  known  as  the  Midrash  —  expounding  ;  which 
again  is  divided  into  the  Halachah  —  the  rule  to  go  bg,  and  the  Hag- 
gadah  —  tJie  poetry  of  Jewish  thought  ;  "  flashes  of  fancy,  darting  up 
from  the  divine  word."  The  Targums  have  been  of  great  service  in 
translating  and  interpreting  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  other  languages, 
besides  the  valuable  use  which  they  subserved  for  the  Jewish  people 
when  they  were  a  part  of  their  vital  and  working  machinery. 
*  or,r'?  Ezra  iv.  7. 


140  EXCURSUSES. 

EXOUESUS  G. 

SIGNET -RINGS    AND   SEALS.i 

The  use  of  "  sea^s "  in  some  form  dates  back  to  remote  antiquity, 
and  has  been  very  general,  esijecially  among  Oriental  nations.  We 
propose  to  set  forth  succinctly  certain  facts,  gleaned  from  various 
sources,  respecting  this  use.  Obviously,  among  semi-civilized  and  bar- 
barous peoples  a  knowledge  of  chirography  is  not  likely  to  be  generally 
diffused.  The  man  who  is  called  upon  to  affix  his  signature  to  some 
document  is  in  many  cases  unable  to  write  his  name.  Hence,  he  is 
under  the  necessity  of  making  iiis  "  mark,"  or  of  employing  some 
equivalent  device.  Very  generally  the  seal  has  served  the  purpose  of 
signature.  What  a  recent  authority  says  of  modern  Oriental  usage  is 
equally  true  of  the  ancient :  "  The  signature  of  a  letter  or  document 
is  not  written,  but  stamped  with  a  seal "  (Van  Lennep,'  Bible  Lands, 
p.  392).  So  important  is  the  seal  that  never,  except  under  extraor- 
dinary circumstances,  does  its  owner  part  with  it ;  carrying  it  constantly 
in  his  bosom,  fastened  by  a  string  around  his  neck  or  attached  to  his 
clothing.  In  other  cases  it  is  worn,  in  the  form  of  a  signet-ring,  upon 
his  finger. 

In  former  times  seals  were  used  to  make  impressions  in  wax  or  in 
clay,  which  subsequently  harderjed,  but  more  recently  the  seal  is  used 
with  ink,  in  much  the  same  way  as  type.  Many  of  the  clay  disks 
which  had  been  stamped  as  above,  and  afterwards  burned,  ai-e  to  be 
found  among  the  ruins  of  ancient  cities,  and  most  of  them  well  pre- 
served. They  were  evidently  fastened  to  the  original  document  by 
means  of  a  string,  which  has  long  since  —  with  the  document  itself  — 
turned  to  dust. 

Besides  its  use  for  forming  signatures,  the  seal  was  emjiloyed  for 
protecting  that  which  was  designed  to  remain  closed.  The  mouth  of  the 
lions'  den  into  which  Daniel  had  been  cast,  and  the  tomb  which  held  our 
Saviour's  body,  were  each  secured  by  the  seal  of  the  ruler  against  being 
opened  by  unauthorized  hands.  The  ancient  Egyptians  are  said  to  have 
sealed  the  doors  of  the  tombs  of  their  ancestors,  whose  remains  they 
guarded  with  care  and  veneration.  In  these  cases  a  lump  of  clay  was 
carefully  affixed  to  the  door  and  stamped  witli  the  seal  ;  this  hardening, 
the  door  could  not  be  opened  without  destroying  the  seal-mark,  and 
thus  revealing  the  sacrilege. 

The  form  of  the  seal  itself  was  various.  In  Knight's  Pictorial  Bible, 
on  Gen.  xli.  42,  may  be  seen  neat  representa*^ions  of  ancient  seals 
1  Esther  iii.  10,  12  ;  viii.  2,  8,  10. 


EXCURSUSES.  141 

or  signets.  The  Encyclopaedia  Britaniiica  (Vol.  xiii.  pp.  070,  077) 
gives  a  fine  engraving  representing  a  signet-ring  which  has  a  square 
revolving  l3ezel,  on  which  are  four  serpents  interlaced.  Among  the 
forms  most  in  use  before  the  adoption  of  the  ring-seal  were  cylinders, 
squares,  and  pyramids.  The  cylinders  were  of  various  sizes.  Layard 
describes  them  as  varying  in  size  from  about  two  inches  to  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  long,  and  as  being  quite  circular,  or  barrel-shaped,  or 
slightly  concave.  These  cylinder-seals  were  pierced  longitudinally,  and 
often  made  to  revolve  upon  a  metal  axis  attached  to  a  handle,  much 
like  a  common  stone  roller  for  levelling  the  walks  in  a  garden. 
(Nineveh  and  Babylon,  pp.  602-609,  Putnam's  edition.)  The  seal 
was  rolled  over  the  moist  clay  or  other  material,  leaving  a  distinct  and 
well-defined  impress.  Mr.  Loftus  (Chaldea  and  Susiana,  p.  254) 
observes,  "The  Chaldeans  were  not  contented  with  a  simple  impres- 
sion, but  rolled  the  cylinder  over  the  entire  written  document,  thus 
preventing  all  chance  or  possibility  of  forgery."  Sometimes  the  cylin- 
der-seal was  suspended  by  a  string  passing  through  it,  and  tied  about 
the  owner's  neck,  who  carried  the  seal  in  his  bosom. 

Layard  mentions  some  fourteen  different  kinds  of  stone  of  which 
these  cylinders  were  made  (Nineveh  and  Babylon,  loc.  cit.).  Rawlin- 
son  says  they  were  made  of  serpentine,  meteoric  stone,  jasper,  chalce- 
dony, or  other  similar  substance.  They  are  round,  or  nearly  so,  and 
measure  from  half  an  inch  to  three  inches  in  length ;  ordinarily-  the 
diameter  is  about  one  third  of  the  length.  A  hole  is  bored  through  the 
stone  from  end  to  end,  so  that  it  could  be  worn  upon  a  string ;  some  of 
the  earliest  were  fastened  about  the  wrist  in  this  manner.  Rawlinson 
gives  an  engraving  of  a  cylinder  seal  of  this  character.  (Anc.  Mon., 
Vol.  i.  p.  93,  Dodd,  Mead,  and  Co.'s  edition.)  The  square  and  pyra- 
midal seals  seem  to  have  been  applied  by  hand,  as  occasion  required. 

The  ring-seal  probably  came  into  use  latest  of  all.  It  consisted  of  a 
ring,  to  one  side  of  which  a  seal  was  attached,  —  the  seal  being  some- 
times stationary  with  the  inscription  upon  the  outer  side  only ;  at  other 
times  it  was  so  constructed  as  to  revolve  upon  its  axis,  and  possessed 
several  inscriptions,  which  might  be  used  at  the  option  of  the  wearer. 
Sometimes  the  seal  was  a  flat  oval  disk  having  inscriptions  upon  the 
two  opposite  surfaces,  at  other  times  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  cube  with 
inscriptions  upon  the  four  sides. 

TVe  give,  on  the  following  page,  cuts  representing  the  different  seals 
and  signet-rings  already  described.  We  have  gathered  them  from 
various  sources,  and  trust  that  they  will  assist  the  reader  in  gaining 
clear  ideas  of  the  subject.  The  authors  to  whom  we  are  chiefly  indebted 
are  Darned  above. 


142 


EXCURSUSES. 


SIGNET-RINGS    AND    SEALS. 

1.  Disk  seal  of  chalcedony,  with  Persian  inscription. 

2.  Disk  seal  of  chalcedony,  with  Phoenician  inscription. 

3.  Conical  seal  of  sapphire  chalcedony,  with  Assyrian  inscription. 

4.  Cylinder  signet,  through  which  a  string  was  passed,  and  fastened 
around  the  wrist  or  neck. 

5.  Roller  signet,  with  handle  of  metal. 
6  and  7.     Signet  rings,  with  fixed  bezels. 

8  and  0.  Signet-rings,  with  revolving  bezels.  No.  9  is  the  famous  signet- 
ring  of  Horus,  described  by  Wilkinson  (see  p.  145  infra),  and  containing 
£20  worth  of  gold. 


EXCURSUSES.  143 

In  sketching  concisely  the  use  of  the  seal  among  ancient  uatious,  we 
shall  follow  a  geographical  rather  than  a  chronological  order. 

Among  the  Romans  there  was  a  simple  custom  of  antiquity,  derived 
from  the  Etruscans,  of  wearing  an  iron  signet-ring  upon  the  right  hand. 
Even  after  the  introduction  of  gold  rings,  old  families  continued  to 
wear  the  primitive  iron  siguet-ring  (Guhl  and  Koner,  Life  of  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  p.  497). 

The  Romans,  following  the  Egyptians,  engraved  first,  animals,  then 
the  portraits  of  heroes  and  princes ;  later.  fiet|uently,  indelicate  figures 
and  symbols.  Roman  rings  were  often  of  immense  value  ;  that  of 
the  empress  Faustina  is  said  to  have  cost  S200.000,  that  of  Domitia 
3300,000.  Among  both  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  the  seal  was  usually 
set  hi  a  ring,  whence  (innulus  came  to  be  a  Latin  name  for  seal  (Am. 
Cyclop.,  Vol.  xiv.  pp.  33G,  337, 735.)  The  ring  of  a  Roman  emperor  was 
a  kind  of  state  seal ;  and  the  emperor  sometimes  allowed  the  use  of  it  to 
such  persons  as  he  wished  to  be  regarded  as  his  representatives  (Dion 
Cassius,  Ixvi.  2).  The  keeping  of  the  seal-ring  {cura  anmiU)  was 
entrusted  to  a  special  officer  (Smith,  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities,  art.  Annulus).  The  Romans  seem  to  have  worn  one 
signet-ring  at  least ;  and,  judging  from  the  statues,  generally  on  the 
fourth  finger.  At  the  beginning  these  rings  were  of  iron,  and  the 
golden  ones  were  among  the  distinctions  of  the  higher  classes.  Later, 
vaiu  persons,  in  order  to  display  their  wealth,  covered  their  hands  with 
rings.  (Becker's  Gallus,  p.  429,  note.)  It  was  the  custom  to  breathe 
on  the  seal  before  using  it,  in  order  to  prevent  the  adhering  of  the  wax. 
(Gallus,  p.  38.)  The  pope's  "bull  "  derives  its  name  from  the  Latin 
word  bulla  —  primarily  a  round  object,  a  bubble,  a  boss  or  stud,  au 
ornament  worn  upon  the  neck;  hence,  later,  a  seal.  The  seal  of  a 
papal  bull  is  of  lead  of  gold,  stamped  on  one  side  with  the  efligies  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  on  the  other  with  the  name  of  the  reigning 
pope.  It  is  attached  to  the  document  by  strings.  -  ("  Bullae  dicuntur  a 
sigillo  vel  plumbeo  vel  aureo,  exhibente  hinc  SS.  Apostolorum  Petri 
et  Pauli  imagines,  illinc  vero  nomen  Pontificis,  quod  inhaeret  funiculo 
serico  vel  cannabis."  J.  P.  Gury,  Compendium  Theologiae  Moralis, 
Vol.  i.  p.  114,     Romae,  mdccclxxxm.). 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  use  of  the  ring  and  the  custom  of 
sealing  was  introduced  from  the  East  —  where  it  was  common  —  by 
the  way  of  Greece,  into  Rome.  In  the  time  of  Solon  every  Grecian 
freeman  wore  a  signet-ring  of  gold,  silver,  or  bronze,  and  the  right  was 
enjoyed  by  all  classes  of  the  Athenians.  This  legislator  ma<le  a  law 
against  the  forgery  of  seals.     Important  documents,  although  intended 


144  EXCURSUSES. 

to  be  sealed  U2:),'were  yet  attested  by  a  seal  beneath  the  writing  (Becker, 
Charicles,  159,  Note  6).  The  free  Greek,  if  not  of  the  lowest  class, 
wore  a  ring,  not  only  as  an  ornament,  but  as  a  signet  to  attest  his  sig- 
nature, or  for  making  secure  his  jjroperty.  No  trace  of  this  usage  is 
found  in  Homer  (Becker,  pp.  198-200,  Note  6).  According  to  Pliny, 
Alexander  the  Great  sealed  all  important  documents  in  Europe  with 
his  own  ring  ;  in  Asia  with  that),  of  Darius.  When  he  gave  his  ring  to 
Perdiccas,  he  was  understood  to  nominate  him  as  his  successor  (McClin- 
tock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  Yol,  ix.  p.  31). 

In  ancient  Egypt  signet-rings  and  rings  for  ornament  were  worn  by 
all  classes.  They  were  of  gold,  silver,  or  bronze ;  those  of  the  latter 
metal  were  generally  signet-rings.  The  lower  classes  generally  wore 
ivory  or  blue  porcelain.  The  rich  had  plain  circlets  of  gold,  bearing 
either  a  scarabaeus,  or  a  stone  engraved  with  the  name  of  some  deity 
or  king,  or  with  a  sacred  emblem  and  legend.  The  Egyptians  wore 
the  signet-ring  on  the  fourth  finger  of  the  left  hand  (American  Cyclop., 
Vol.  xiv.  pp.  336,  337).  In  that  elegant  and  elaborate  work,  A  His- 
tory of  Ancient  Art  in  Egypt,  by  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Vol.  ii.  p.  387, 
are  to  be  seen  two  unmistakable  engravings  of  signet-rings  —  one  of 
them  a  curious  double  one  —  copied  from  the  originals  in  the  Louvre. 
One  signet-cylinder  in  the  Alnwick  Museum  bears  the  date  of  Osirtasen 
I.,  betweea  2000  and  3000  B.C.  The  seal  of  Sabacho,  king  of  Egypt 
(B.C.  711)  hat,  been  found;  also  the  supposed  seal  of  Sennacherib 
(Layard,  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  pp.  154-1  GO).  Among  the  Egyptian 
antiquities  in  Di.  Abbott's  collection,  formerly  at  Cairo,  but  since 
removed  to  New  York,  is  a  very  remarkable  ring  which  was  doubtless 
the  seal  of  Cheops,  or  Suphis,  the  builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid.  It  is 
of  fine  gold,  and  weighs  nearly  three  sovereigns.  It  was  found  in  a 
tomb  at  Ghizeh,  and  is  in  excellent  preservation.  The  details  are 
minutely  accurate  and  beautifully  executed.  The  hieroglyphics  within 
its  oval  make  the  name  of  that  Pharaoh  whose  tomb  was  the  pyramid. 
So  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  this  ring 
(Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art.  Seal ;  Ebers,  Egyptian  Princess,  Vol.  i.  p. 
291,  and  note).  Many  of  the  rings  discovered  in  Egypt  are  believed 
to  be  more  than  four  thousand  years  old.  Wilkinson  gives  a  series  of 
drawings  of  such  rings  (Ancient  Egyptians,  Vol.  iii.  p.  374 ;  see  also 
Lepsius,  Denkmiiler,  x.  pi.  42).  In  1824,  in  a  tomb  near  IMemphis, 
was  found  what  is  thought  to  be  the  signet  given  by  Pharaoh  to  Joseph. 
This  seal  has  two  tablets,  turning  upon  a  swivel,  and,  with  the  ring,  is 
massive  and  of  very  pure  gold.  The  carving  is  bold,  sharp,  and  very 
excellent.     The  seal  has  the  cartouch  of  Pharaoh  :  and  one  line  of  the 


EXCURSUSES.  145 

engraving  has  been  translated  "  Paaneah,"  part  of  the  name  —  or  accord- 
ing to  Brugsch,  title  —  given  by  the  king  to  Joseph.  Gen.  xli.  4o 
(Edwards,  History  and  Poetry  of  Finger-Rings,  pp.  153,  ,154). 

In  Gosse's  Monuments  of  Ancient  Egypt  (pp.  '201,  202),  we  find  an 
engraving  and  description  of  a  signet-ring  of  great  beauty  and  value. 
Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  estimates  that  it  contains  gold  to  the  value  of 
twenty  pounds  sterling.  It  consists  of  a  massive  ring  of  gold,  bearing 
an  oblong,  square  jjlinth  of  the  same  metal,  an  inch  in  length,  and  more 
than  half  an  inch  in  its  greatest  width.  The  seal  evidently  turns  on  its 
axis.  One  side  bears  the  hieroglyphic  name  of  Horus,  with  reference  to 
the  time  of  Amunoph  III.,  B.C.  1 400 ;  the  three  others  contain  respectively 
a  crocodile,  a  scorpion,  and  a  lion  with  the  legend  '•  Lord  of  strength." 
This  signet-ring  on  account  of  its  value,  its  style  of  engraving,  and  its 
use  as  a  seal,  happily  illustrates  such  passages  of  Scripture  as  Gen.  xli. 
42;  Ex.  xxviii.  11,  21,  36;  1  Kings  xxi.  8;  Jer.  xxii.  24;  Haggai  ii. 
23.  Among  the  Hebrews  the  ring  seems  to  have  been  almost  indis- 
pensable as  an  article  of  dress.  It  was  probably  handed  down  from 
father  to  son  as  a  mark  of  rank  and  authority.  The  Jews  wore  the 
signet-ring  on  the  right  hand,  on  the  middle  or  little  finger. 

Sometimes,  in  imitation  of  the  Babylonians,  they  wore  a  simple  seal 
or  signet  (^rin)  which  was  suspended  from  the  neck,  over  the  breast 
(Gen.  xxxviii.  18;  Cant.  viii.  6;  Haggai  ii.  23).  Sometimes  merely 
the  owner's  name,  at  other  times  an  additional  sentence  was  engraved 
ufton  the  seal.  A  monarch  —  as  we  learn  from  numerous  passages  of 
Scripture  —  by  entrusting  his  seal  to  a  favorite  conferred  upon  him 
high  power  and  dignity,  in  fact  made  him  the  representative  of  him- 
self (Gen.  xli.  42).  Seal-rings  were  named  nrs^  from  a  verb  which 
signifies  to  impress  into  any  soft  substance,  as  clay  ;  hence,  to  seal.  The 
engraving  of  a  signet-ri^ig  was  often  executed  in  the  most  skilful  man- 
ner (Ex.  xxviii.  21,  36  ;  xxxix.  6,  14,  30). 

Herodotus,  speaking  of  the  Babylonians,  says  -that  every  man  has  a 
seal  and  a  staff  curiously  wrought  (i.  195).  And  Mr.  Layard  informs 
us  that  the  gems  and  cylinders  often  found  among  the  ruins  evince  that 
the  Assyrians  were  very  skilful  in  engraving  on  stone.  Many  of  their 
seals  are  most  delicately  and  minutely  ornamented  with  various  sacred 
devices,  and  with  the  forms  of  animals  (Nineveh  and  Remains,  Vol.  iL 
p.  320).  So  Mr.  Loftus,  describing  the  baked  clay  tablets,  found  by 
him  at  TVarka,  the  ancient  Erech,  and  the  impressions  which  they  pre- 
sent, says  that  "  many  are  very  beautiful,  and  shew  the  perfection 
attained  in  the  art  of  gem  engraving  in  Babylonia  at  that  early  period" 
(Chaldea  and  Susiana,  p.  229).  The  men  in  Chaldea  generally  carried 
19 


146  EXCURSUSES. 

an  engraved  cylinder  in  agate  or  other  hard  stone,  which  was  used  as  a 
seal  or  signet,  and  was  probably  worn  around  the  wrist.  At  all  events 
the  signet-cylinder  always  occupies  this  position  in  the  tombs.  Some- 
times we  find  signet-seals  of  a  disk-like  form,  with  inscriptions  on  the 
two  sides,  and  a  protuberance  at  one  edge,  to  which  probably  a  string 
was  attached  for  convenience  in  transportation.  The  signet-cylinder 
of  Darius  Hystaspis  is  still  extant,  bearing  a  trilingual  inscription, 
"  Darius,  the  Great  King,"  and  representing  that  monarch  as  engaged 
in  a  lion-hunt  in  a  palm-grove  (Rawlinson,  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  i.  pp.  106, 
107  ;  Vol.  iii.  pp.  226,  342).  The  intention  of  king  Xerxes  in  com- 
mitting his  signet-ring  first  to  Ilaman,  and  afterwards  to  Mordecai,  is 
sufficiently  obvious.  Each  in  succession  became  the  prime  minister  of 
the  empire,  clothed  with  authority  second  only  to  that  of  the  king  him- 
self, and  having  power  to  issue  edicts  and  decrees  in  the  king's  name, 
and  to  affix  thereto  the  royal  seal. 

EXCURSUS  H. 

THE  MASSACRE.i  ' 
Some  have  objected  to  the  credibility  of  the  nan-ative,  on  the  ground 
that  no  ruler  would  issue  such  an  arbitrary  and  sanguinary  decree, 
sanctioning  the  butchery  of  vast  numbers  of  his  innocent  and  unoffend- 
ing subjects.  But,  surely,  he  has  "read  history  to  little  purpose  who 
has  not  noted  the  excesses  and  enormities  of  despotic  power,  —  tramp- 
ling, as  it  often  does,  upon  reason,  justice,  and  mercy,  —  as  well  as  the 
fact  that  religious  fanaticism  easily  kindles  into  unbridled  and  bloody 
fury.  The  pages  of  Oriental,  not  to  say  Occidental,  history  present 
many  examples  of  shocking  barbarities  perpetrated  by  the  tyrant  or 
the  fanatic.  According  to  Diodorus  Siculus  this  same  Xerxes,  other- 
wise known  as  Ahasuerus,  put  the  Medians  foremost  in  the  battle  of 
Thermopylae  on  purpose  that  they  might  all  be  killed,  because  he 
thought  that  they  were  not  fully  reconciled  to  the  loss  of  their  national 
supremacy  (Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  Vol.  i.  p.  776).  We  might  mention 
Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus,  who,  being  at  war  with  the  Romans,  issued 
secret  orders  to  the  satraps  and  other  officials  of  his  realm,  to  slaughter 
upon  a  given  day  all  Romans  present,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex. 
In  consequence,  eighty  thousand  persons  perished  in  a  single  day.  So 
we  might  cite  the  atrocities  perpetrated  by  Timour  Lenk,  or  Tamerlane, 
•who  in  his  march  against  Delhi,  massacred  one  hundred  thousand  cap- 
tives ;  and  who,  having  stormed  the  city  of  Bagdad,  piled  ninety  thou- 
sand corpses  in  the  public  places  of  the  city.  This  same  tyrant,  at  the 
1  Esther  iii.  11,  13, 


EXCURSUSES.  147 

capture  of  Ispahan,  a.d.  1387,  put  to  death  all  the  inhabitants,  except 
the  artists  and  scholars.  More  than  seventy  thousand  heads  were  laid 
at  his  feet,  and  hy  his  order  were  piled  in  the  public  squares,  in  the 
form  of  towers.  At  Sebsewar  he  piled  up  two  thousand  of  the  people 
alive,  with  their  heads  outward,  and  their  bodies  built  up  with  mortar 
like  stones  or  bricks  (American  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Timour ;  Van  Leunep, 
Bible  Lands,  pp.  68G,  687). 

As  examples  of  despotism  might  be  mentioned  the  case  of  Ferdinand 
V.  of  Spain,  who  in  1492  banished  three  hundred  thousand  —  some  say 
eight  hundred  thousand  —  Jews  from  his  dominions;  also  that  of  Louis 
XIV.  of  France,  who  about  the  year  1685,  having  put  to  death  with 
"  frightful  barbarities  "  some  thousands  of  Protestants,  drove  out  many 
thousands  more ;  so  that  France  lost  at  that  time  half  a  rmUicn  of 
her  best  and  most  industrious  inhabitants  (American  Cyclopaedia, 
art.  Louis  XIV.  of  France).  We  might  refer  also  to  the  notorious 
massacre  of  the  Huguenots  in  France,  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day. 
Aug.  24,  1572.  At  that  time,  in  Paris  and  other  French  cities,  not 
less  than  thirty  thousand  —  some  say  one  hundred  thousand  —  innocent 
persons  were  slain  in  cold  blood.  When  the  news  reached  Rome,  the 
cannon  of  St.  Angelo  were  fired,  a  solemn  Te  Deum  was  sung,  and 
the  Pope,  Gregory  XIII.,  caused  a  medal  to  be  struck,  bearing  on  one 
side  his  own  portrait,  and  on  the  other  a  representation  of  the  massacre, 
with  the  legend  :  Hugonotorum  Strages,  "  Slaughter  of  the  Prot- 
estants "  (see  Schaff-IIerzog  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Bartholomew's  Day : 
Dowling's  History  of  Romanism,  pp.  587-590  ;  Edgar's  Variations  of 
Popery,  pp.  271,  272;  American  Cyclopaedia,  Vol.  ii.  pp.  347-349). 
If  such  diabolical  atrocities  could  be  sanctioned  by  so-called  Christian 
rulers,  what  might  we  not  expect  from  the  heathen  Xerxes  ?  And  the 
three  examples  last  cited  occurred  in  lands  nominally  Christian,  and  in 
comparatively  modern  times. 

The  massacre  of  the  Mamelukes  in  Cairo,  in  1811,  by  Mehemet  Ali : 
and  the  more  dreadful  butchery  of  the  Janizaries  in  Constantinople 
ill  1826,  by  the  command  of  Mahmoud  II.  are  dreadful  examples  of 
Oriental  ferocity.  Of  these  Janizaries  it  is  said  that  —  burned  alive  in 
their  barracks,,  cannonaded  in  the  At  Meidan,  where  they  made  their 
most  desperate  defence,  massacred  singly  in  the  streets  during  three 
months  —  twenty-five  thousand  perished,  and  the  remainder  were  driven 
into  exile  (American  Cyclopaedia,  arts.  Mamelukes,  and  Janizaries). 
The  devastation  of  Scio  and  other  islands  of  the  Aegean  by  the 
Turks,  in  1821  and  later,  is  an  instance  of  savage  fanaticism  worthy  of 
Haman  himself.     The  men  were  put  to  the  sword;  the  cities  and  villas 


148  EXCURSUSES. 

burned,  tlie  beautiful  plantations  ruined,  the  women  and  children  were 
taken  captive,  and  sold  in  Smyrna  and  Constantinople  as  slaves.  Within 
two  or  three  mouths  the  Christian  population  of  Scio  was  reduced  from 
nearly  one  hundred  and  four  thousand  to  two  thousand. 

Another  massacre  was  that  of  the  Nestorians  by  the  Koords  in  1843. 
At  that  time  not  less  than  ten  thousand  men  were  slain,  and  a  much 
larger  number  of  women  and, children  were  reduced  to  slavery.  The 
Koords  proved  no  less  treacherous  than  bloodthirsty.  About  a  thousand 
of  the  fugitives  of  all  ages  took  refuge  upon  a  rocky  j^latform  very  dif- 
ficult of  access.  The  Koordish  leader,  Beder  Khan  Bey,  discovered 
their  retreat,  and  being  unable  to  capture  them  by  storm,  hemmed  them 
in,  until  hunger  and  thirst  aggravated  by  the  sultry  climate  constrained 
them  to  yield.  The  terms  proposed  by  the  Koord,  and  sworn  to  upon 
the  Koran,  were  that  their  lives  should  be  spared  on  condition  of  the 
surrender  of  their  arms  and  property.  Thereupon  the  Koords  were 
admitted  to  the  platform.  After  they  had  deprived  their  prisoners  of 
means  of  defence  they  commenced  an  indiscriminate  slaughter ;  until 
weary  of  using  their  weapons,  they  hurled  the  few  survivors  from  the 
the  rocks  into  the  river  Zab  beneath.  Of  the  whole  number  only  one 
escaped  (Layard,  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  Vol.  i.  pp.  165-167). 

A  more  dreadful  instance  of  the  same  character  occurred  so  recently 
as  1860,  when  the  Christians  of  Mt.  Lebanon  in  Syria  were  butchered 
by  the  Turks  and  Druses.  The  Turkish  garrisons  at  first  simply  looked 
on ;  then  they  urged  the  Christians  to  take  refuge  in  the  castles,  ou 
condition  of  delivering  up  all  the  weapons  they  possessed.  The  Turks 
swore  by  the  Koran  that  no  harm  should  be  done  them.  But  no  sooner 
were  the  Christians  thus  entrapped  than  the  Druses  were  called  in  and 
the  work  of  carnage  begun.  Every  one  of  the  hapless  victims  was 
shot  down  or  had  his  throat  cut  on  the  spot.  During  those  dreadful 
days  of  blood,  the  streets  of  Deir-el-Kamr,  Hasbeya,  and  Zahleh  flowed 
ankle-deep  with  human  gore  ! 

The  attention  of  the  civilized  world  was  aroused ;  and  the  allied 
European  powers  interposed,  and  sent  a  commission  to  investigate  and 
report.  The  following  is  the  substance  of  the  report :  "  Eleven  thou- 
sand Christians  massacred  :  one  hundred  thousand  sufferers  by  the  civil 
war  ;  twenty  thousand  desolate  widows  and  orphans ;  three  thousand 
Christian  habitations  burned  ;  and  property  to  the  value  of  ten  millions 
of  dollars  (gold)  destroyed  "  (Van  Lennep,  Bible  Lands,  pp.  743-746  ; 
Porter's  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  Appendix ;  Churchill's  Mt.  Lebanon, 
Vol.  iv.  p.  219  ;  American  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Druses).  It  is  refreshing 
to  add  that  the  ringleaders  in  these  atrocities  were  afterwards  executed, 


EXCURSUSES.  140 

and  a  Christian  governor  appointetl  in  Lebanon.  Manifestly,  in  the 
lurid  light  of  such  examples  as  the  above,  the  murderous  edict  and 
heartless  conduct  attributed  to  Xerxes  are  perfectly  credible,  and 
entirely  consistent  with  his  character  as  depicted  in  history. 

EXCURSUS   I. 
FASTING.i 

The  custom  of  fasting  has  been  more  or  less  conspicuous  in  many 
of  the  religions  which  have  prevailed  in  the  world.  Among  the  reli- 
gious observances  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  fasting,  though  not 
entirely  unknown,  held  a  less  important  place  than  elsewhere.  In 
Egypt  we  find  nothing  of  com{)ulsory  general  fasts,  though  a  rigorous 
temporary  abstinence  was  required  of  persons  about  to  be  initiated  into 
the  mysteries  of  Isis  and  Osiris.  In  the  remote  East  the  custom  of 
fasting  obtained  more  generally.  Climate,  the  habits  of  a  people,  and 
their  creed,  gave  it  at  different  periods  diffei-ent  characteristics  ;  but  it 
may  be  pronounced  to  have  been  a  recognized  institution  with  all  the 
more  civilized  nations,  especially  those  of  Asia,  throughout  all  historic 
times.  We  find  it  in  high  estimation  among  the  ancient  Parsees  of 
Irania.  It  formed  a  prominent  feature  among  the  mysteries  of 
Mithras ;  and  found  its  way,  together  with  these,  over  Armenia, 
Cappadocia,  Pontus,  and  Asia  Minor  to  Palestine,  and  northward  to 
the  wilds  of  Scythia.  The  ancient  Chinese  and  Hindoos  carried  fast- 
ing to  an  unnatural  excess.  The  Pavaka,  by  the  due  observance  of 
which  the  Hindoo  believer  is  supposed  to  be  purified  from  all  his  sins, 
requires,  among  other  things,  an  uninterrupted  fast  for  twelve  days 
(Chambers'  Cyclopitedia,  art.  Fast).  The  Mohammedans,  during  the 
ninth  month,  Ramadan,  fast  rigorously  every  day,  from  sunrise  till  the 
stars  appear  at  evening. 

In  the  Scriptures  fasting  assumes  a  new  and  higher  significance. 
Here  it  is  purely  an  act  of  piety.  The  Bible  represents  fasting  in  the 
true  sense  as  the  accompaniment  of  supplication,  as  being  in  itself  an 
act  of  prayer.  Apart  from  its  relation  and  reference  to  the  Divine 
Being,  the  mere  act  of  fasting  has  in  the  Bible  no  significance.  Of  its 
sanitary  value  we  hear  nothing ;  in  its  Scriptural  aspect  it  appears  as  a 
religious  act,  a  penitential  act,  a  prayer  in  itself.  Such  being  the  case, 
we  cease  to  wonder  that  there  is  no  direct  mention  made  of  "prayer" 
in  the  book  of  Esther.  A  Jew  would  no  more  think  of  fasting  without 
prayer  —  without  putting  up  a  petition  to  Jehovah,  than  he  would  think 
1  Esther  iv.  3.  16;  ix.  31. 


I'O  EXCURSUSES. 

of  eating  mthout  drinkiug,  or  of  sleeping  without  reclining.  Fasting 
was  invariably  attended  with  prayer,  though  prayer  was  not  in  every 
case  accompanied  by  fasting.  It  is  clear  that  fasting  in  the  scriptural 
sense  comprises  :  1.  Abstinence  from  food  and  drink  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  period.  Without  this  abstinence  there  is  no  proper  "fast." 
2.  Abstinence  from  all  earthly  pleasures  (Dan.  ix.  3  ;  x.  3).  3.  Absti- 
nence to  the  extent  of  affiicting  the  body  more  or  less.  This  jjhysical 
suffering,  this  refusal  to  gratify  the  demands  of  appetite,  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  a  penance,  but  as  an  act  of  self-denial  subordinating  the 
lower  nature  to  the  higher,  the  physical  to  the  spiritual  part  of  man. 

Generally  speaking,  fasting  viewed  as  a  religious  mortification  or 
humiliation,  was  intended:  (i.)  As  an  expression  of  penitence  and 
humility  before  God,  in  view  of  one's  sins.  It  was  not  a  self-inflicted 
punishment  for  sin,  but  an  expression  of  sorrow  on  account  of  sin 
(1  Sam.  vii.  6  ;  Neh.  i.  4).  (ii.)  It  was  often  a  prayer  for  the  removal 
of  some  present  affliction  or  calamity  under  which  the  individual  or  the 
nation  was  suffering  (See  Judg.  xx.  26  ;  Josh.  vii.  6,  where  fasting 
is  evidently  implied),  (iii.)  At  other  times  the  object  was  to  deprecate 
some  imminent  evil,  to  avert  some  impending  judgment  of  God  (2  Sam. 
xii.  16  ',  1  Kings  xxi.  27  :  2  Chron.  xx.  3  ;  Jonah  iii.  5-10).  (iv.)  Often 
fasting  was  preparatory  to  seeking  by  prayer  some  special  blessing 
from  God  (Matt.  xvii.  21  :  Luke  ii.  37  ;  Acts  x.  30 ;  xiii.  3 ;  xiv.  23 ; 
1  Cor.  vii.  5). 

Among  the  Jews  but  one  day  of  fasting  seems  to  have  been  observed 
by  Divine  command  —  that  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  (compare  Lev. 
xvi.  29  ;  xxiii.  27  ;  Num.  xxix.  7).  During  the  time  of  the  Captivity, 
the  Jews  observed  four  other  annual  fasts,  —  on  the  seventeenth  of  the 
fourth  month,  in  memory  of  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  (Jer.  Iii.  6,  7)  ; 
on  the  ninth  day  of  the  fifth  month,  in  memory  of  the  burning  of  the 
Temple  (Zech.  vii.  3 ;  viii.  19)  ;  on  the  third  of  the  seventh  month,  in 
memory  of  the  slaughter  of  Gedaliah  (Jer.  xli.  2)  ;  and  on  the  tenth 
day  of  the  tenth  month,  as  a  memorial  of  the  inception  of  tlie  attack 
upon  Jerusalem  (Zech.  viii.  19).  To  these  was  added  the  fast  of 
Esther,  observed  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  twelfth  month,  Adar. 
At  a  later  period  other  fasts  were  added,  so  that  the  Jewish  calendar 
includes  at  present  some  twenty-eight  fast-days  for  each  year.  John 
Allen,  in  his  Modern  Judaism  (pp.  384,  385),  mentions  six  principal 
fasts  (see  also  pp.  400-419,  and  Rabbi  David  Levi's  Ceremonies  of 
the  Jews,  pp.  70,  71,  85,  120,  125;  Jewish  Ceremonies,  by  Gamaliel 
Ben  Pedahzur,  pp.  34-68).  The  latter  very  rare  and  curious  work 
specifies   and   describes   nine   fast-days,  and  refers  to  several  others. 


EXCURSUSES.  151 

TIic  Pharisees,  as  appears  from  Luke  xviii.  12,  were  accustomed  to 
fast  twice  in  each  week.  Tliese  fasts  are  said  to  have  occurred  on 
ISIondays  and  Tlmrsdays,  —  because  the  tradition  was  that  IMoses 
ascended  Mount  Sinai  the  second  time  to  receive  the  law,  on  a  Thurs- 
day, and  descended  upon  Monday  (Schaff-llerzog,  Cyclopaedia,  art. 
Fasting).  The  Talmudic  treatise  entitled  Taanith,  gives  very  minute 
directions  respecting  the  proper  method  of  fasting. 

It  would  be  beside  our  purpose  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  custom  of 
fasting  as  it  has  obtained  in  the  Christian  church.  We  close  with  the 
remark  of  Calvin:  "  Holy  and  legitimate  fasting  is  directed  to  three 
ends.  For  we  practise  it,  either  as  a  restraint  on  the  flesh,  to  preserve 
it  from  licentiousness  ;  or  as  a  preparation  for  prayers  and  pious  medi- 
tations ;  or  as  a  testimony  of  our  humiliation  in  the  presence  of  God, 
when  we  are  desirous  of  confessing  our  guilt  before  him  "  (Institutes, 
Bk.  iv.  chap.  12,  sec.  15). 

EXCURSUS  J. 
THE  GOLDEN  SCEPTRE.i 
After  what  has  been  said  in  the  Notes  on  chapters  iv.  11 ;  v.  2  and 
viii.  4,  little  need  be  added.  Our  word  "  sceptre"  is  derived  from  the 
the  Greek  aKrJTrrpov.  and  that  from  aKrprTiiv,  to  lean  upon.  Hence  it 
denotes  primarily  a  staff,  or  walking-stick,  upon  which  one  leans. 
Then  it  came  to  signify  a  wand,  or  baton,  as  a  badge  of  authority; 
borne  by  kings,  chiefs,  and  other  dignitaries.  In  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey, 
there  is  frequent  mention  of  the  sceptre.  It  is  represented  as  of  gold 
or  gilt,  or  as  "studded  with  golden  nails"  (see  Iliad,  Bk.  1.  lines  15 
and  246;  Odyssey.  Bk.  11,  lines  91,  569).  Professor  Feltou  in  his 
Notes  on  Iliad  1,  15.  says  :  "The  epithet  golden,  means  only  that  the 
sceptre  was  set  with  golden  studs  or  nails."  On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Bevan, 
in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  sub  voce,  says  that  the  sceptre  of  tjie  Persian 
mouarchs  was  "  probably  of  massive  gold."  Mr.  Layard  found  at 
Nimroud  a  portion  of  a  carved  ivory  staff,  which  was  probably  used  as 
a  sceptre  (Nineveh  and  Babylon,  Vol.  i.  p.  195).  It  has  been  sup- 
posed that  the  form  of  the  sceptre  was  derived  from  the  shepherd's 
crook  or  staff,  but  .this  may  be  doubtful,  since  Diodorus  Siculus  (iii.  3) 
represents  the  sceptre  of  the  Egyptian  kings  as  resembling  not  a 
shepherd's  crook,  but  a  plough  !  Wilkinson  (Ancient  Egyptians,  Vol. 
i.  p.  276)  gives  a  curious  representation  of  the  sceptre  of  an  Egyptian 
queen,  which  somewhat  resembles  a  drooping  lily,  with  stamens  of  great 
magnitude. 

1  Esther  iv.  11;  v  2  ;  viii.  4. 


152  EXCURSUSES. 

According  to  Rawlinson  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  pp.  203-206)  the 
sceptre  of  the  Persian  kings  which  is  frequently  represented  in  the 
hands  of  the  monarch  upon  the  monuments,  was  a  plain  rod  about  five 
feet  in  length,  ornamented  with  a  b.ill  or  apple  at  its  upper  end,  and  at 
its  lower  tapering  nearly  to  a  point.  The  king  held  it  in  his  right  hand, 
grasping  it  near,  but  not  at,  the  thick  end,  and  rested  the  thin  end  on 
the  ground  in  his  front.  When  he  walked  he  planted  it  upright  before 
him,  as  a  spearman  woul'd  plant  his  spear.  When  he  sate  he  sloped  it 
outwards,  still,  however,  touching  the  ground  with  its  point.  (See  rep- 
resentation of  monarch,  p.  203,  op.  cit.)  The  same  author  in  Pulpit 
Commentary,  Notes  on  Esther,  says  that  the  Persepolitan  sculptures 
uniformly  represent  the  king  with  a  long  tapering  staff  in  his  hand, 
which  is  probably  the  "  sceptre  "  (sharbith)  of  Esther.  According  to 
Ker  Porter  the  Persepolitan  bas-reliefs  represent  Darius  in  the  midst 
of  his  court,  either  walking  or  enthroned,  but  always  bearing  in  his 
hand  his  sceptre,  a  slender  rod  or  wand  about  equal  in  length  to  his 
own  height,  ornamented  with  a  small  knob  at  the  summit.  Dr. 
Jamieson  in  his  Commentary,  says  that  .  in  the  Assyrian  alabasters 
found  in  Nimroud  and  Khorsabad,  the  king's  sceptre  appears  as  a 
slender  rod,  without  any  knob  or  ornament.  In  the  Khorsabad  reliefs 
the  rod  is  painted  red,  doubtless  to  represent  gold;  proving  that  the 
"  golden  sceptre  was  a  simple  wand  of  that  precious  metal,  commonly 
held  in  the  right  hand,  with  one  end  resting  on  the  ground,  and  that 
whether  the  king  was  sitting  or  walking. 

Among  the  Greeks  the  royal  sceptre  (a-KrJTrTpov)  was  a  staff  adorned 
with  a  knob  or  a  flower,  which,  as  early  as  Homer's  time,  was  the 
attribute  of  gods  and  of  rulers  descended  from  the  gods.  The  sceptre 
was  a  valued  heirloom  in  royal  families.  The  sceptre  serving  as  the 
emblem  of  judicial  power,  also  employed  by  ambassadors  and  heralds, 
was  somewhat  shorter,  and  was  styled  pd/3Sos  (see  Guhl  and  Koner, 
pp.  184,  185).  The  Hebrew  word  wnr  (later,  isin'd),  seems  to  have 
much  the  same  latitude  of  meaning  as  the  Greek  word  mentioned 
above.  It  denotes  primarily  a  stick  or  staff,  a  rod  for  chastisement,  a 
walking-stick,  a  shepherd's  crook,  then  a  sceptre.  In  Lev.  xxvii.  32  ; 
Ezek.  XX.  37,  and  apparently  in  Micah  vii.  14,  it  refers  to  the  crook  of 
the  shepherd.  It  is,  however,  worthy  of  note  that  the  Septuagint,  in 
the  last  three  cases,  employs  pa^Sos  instead  of  a-KrJTTTpov. 

King  Saul  seems  to  have  used  his  spear  for  a  sceptre  or  ensign  of 
authority  (1  Sam.  xviii.  10  ;  xxii.  6).  Indeed,  according  to  Justin  (Lib. 
43,  c.  3)  kings  in  olden  times  were  accustomed  to  use  the  spear  in  this 
way.     Dr.  Jahn  (Archaeology,  sec.  226)  agrees  with  Rawlinson  above 


EXCURSUSES.  153 

cited,  as  to  the  form  and  dimeusions  of  the  sceptre,  and  thinks  that  the 
use  of  this  emblem  of  authority  was  first  suggested  by  the  pastoral 
staff  borne  by  shejiherds ;  or  by  those  staves  which  in  ancient  times 
persons  of  high  rank  carried  for  show  and  ornament  (Gen.  xxxviii.  18; 
Num.  xvii.  7;  Ps.  xxiii.  4).  And  Ezek.  xix.  11  :  "She  had  strong 
rods  for  the  sceptres  of  them  that  bare  rule,"  seems  to  intimate  the 
jirimitive  origin  and  simple  form  of  the  sceptre.  It  should  be  added 
that,  according  to  Botta  and  Bonomi,  the  Assyrian  sceptre,  as  repre- 
sented upon  the  sculptures  at  Nineveh,  was  shorter  than  that  described 
above,  and  of  a  different  form.  The  reader  will  find  on  page  GO  infra, 
an  accurate  representation  of  the  shorter  sceptre,  though  according  to 
Bonomi,  some  regard  it  as  intended  to  represent  a  mace  instead  of  a 
sceptre.  Even  Rawlinson  regards  such  figures  as  representing  maces, 
and  designates  them  by  that  name  (Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  i.  pp.  458,  4o9). 

EXCURSUS  K. 
FATE  OF  ROYAL  FAVOEITES.i 

Few  mortals  have  had  a  more  varied  experience  of  the  vicissitudes 
and  fickleness  of  fortune  than  have  royal  favorites  of  both  sexes.  As 
few  have  climbed  to  more  dizzy  heights  of  pride  and  power,  so  few 
have  plunged  into  darker  and  deeper  abysses  of  woe  ;  and  in  many 
cases  the  downfall  has  been  as  sudden  and  unlooked-for  as  the  eleva- 
tion was  rapid  and  dazzling.  The  pages  of  history  abound  with 
examples,  many  of  them  as  startling  and  tragic  as  that  of  Haman.  "We 
need  not  cite  the  downfall  of  Pharaoh's  chief  baker  (Gen.  xl.  22),  and 
the  suicidal  end  of  Ahithophel,  the  favorife  of  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xvii. 
23).  We  are  told  of  Cambyses  that,  in  order  to  show  the  steadiness  of 
his  hand  and  his  skill  in  archery,  he  sent  an  arrow  to  the  heart  of  his 
young  cup-bearer,  son  of  the  favorite  Prexaspes  (Herod,  iii.  34,  35).. 
Pythius,  a  Lydian,  was  the  man  who  freely  offered  to  give  Xerxes  two 
thousand  talents  of  silver,  and  some  four  millions  of  gold  darics.  Yet 
the  cruel  king,  upon  a  trivial  offence,  ordered  that  the  son  of  this 
"  royal  benefactor "  should  be  cut  in  two.  and  that  the  army  should 
pass  between  the  severed  halves  (Herod,  vii.  27-29, 38,  39).  Parmenio 
was  Alexander's  most  trusted  general ;  his  son  Philotas  had  been  one 
of  the  monarch's  most  intimate  and  favored  friends.  The  father  and 
son  were  accused  of  treason.  Philotas  was  stoned,  and  Parmenio 
assassinated  by  order  of  Alexander.  Clitus,  the  foster-brother  of  the 
same  tyrant,  had  saved  Alexander's  life  at  the  Granicus,  yet  was  after- 

1  Esther  vii.  7-10. 
20 


154  EXCURSUSES. 

wards  slain  by  him  in  a  drunken  revel.  Herod  the  Great,  as  we  know, 
put  to  death  his  beautiful  and  beloved  wife  Mariamne,  and  his  two 
sons  Alexander  and  Aristobulus,  and  ordered  the  execution  of  his 
eldest  son,  AntijDater.  Herod  Antij^as,  with  his  paramour  Herodias, 
was  condemned  to  perpetual  banishment  by  order  of  Caligula.  Herod 
Agrippa,  son  of  Aristobulus,  was  thrown  into  prison  by  Tiberius,  where 
he  lay  till  the  next  reign.  For  a  long  period,  Sejanus  was  the  favorite 
of  Tiberius,  and  managed  the  affairs  of  the  empire  according  to  his 
own  corrupt  liking ;  but  the  emperor  at  last  became  suspicious  of  the 
favorite,  and  caused  him  and  all  his  family  to  be  slain.  Nero,  after 
having  put  to  death  his  mother  Agrippina,  and  his  tutor  Seneca  the 
philosopher,  killed  by  a  kick  Poppaea,  his  paramour.  He  afterwards 
condemned  to  death  his  most  successful  general,  Corbulo, —  "  a  sentence 
which  the  old  soldier  anticipated  by  suicide."  Tigellinus,  a  most  in- 
famous and  despicable  creature  of  Nero,  was  probably  the  vilest  and 
bloodiest  of  royal  favorites  that  ever  pandered  to  the  vices  and  humored 
the  caprices  of  a  besotted  ruler.  Yet,  under  a  subsequent  reign,  this 
paragon  of  villany  met  the  fate  he  so  justly  deserved. 

To  come  down  to  modei-n  times,  we  need  only  refer  to  the  sad  end 
of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  the  favorite  of  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England ;  and 
that  of  the  duke  of  Somerset,  another  favorite  of  the  same  ruler.  The 
fate  of  Jane  Shore,  the  beaiiitiful  mistress  of  king  Edward  IV.,  has 
furnished  the  theme  for  a  celebrated  tragedy  by  Eowe  ;  tradition  rep- 
resenting her  as  perishing  of  cold  and  hunger  in  a  ditch,  thenceforth 
known  as  "  Shoreditch."  The  axe  of  the  executioner  ended  the  earthly 
career  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the  favorites  of 
Ehzabeth.  He  whom  Shakespeare  styles,  "  the  deep-revolving,  wily 
Buckingham,"  after  having  assisted  Richard  III.  in  gaining  the  throne, 
fell  a  victim  to  that  monarch's  jealousy.  Monmouth^  the  favorite  of 
Charles  II.,  was  put  to  death  by  James  II.  Cardinal  Richelieu,  at  one 
time  the  favorite  of  Maria  de' Medici,  was  afterward  repudiated  and 
most  bitterly  hated  by  her.  Necker,  the  able  financier  of  Louis  XVI. 
of  France,  was  driven  with  insult,  abuse,  and  personal  peril  into  retire- 
ment at  Coppet  in  Switzerland,  where  he  died. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  examples  of  the  fate  of  royal  favorites  which 
the  annals  of  the  past  afford.  Equally  with  the  case  of  Haman,  they 
exemplify  the  freaks  of  fortune,  and  the  caprices,  ingratitude,  and 
cruelties  of  arbitrary  power. 


EXCURSUSES.  155 

EXOUKSUS  L. 

COURIERS.i 

CS"^  occurs  four  times  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  and  always  with  the 
article.  The  courier  system  was  new  in  the  time  of  Xerxes,  and  its 
singularity  gave  it  the  article,  just  as  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the 
railroad  have  it  with  us.  Xenophon  (Cyropaedia,  Book  viii.  chap.  vi. 
17)  gives  an  account  of  the  instituting  of  the*  courier  system  which  he 
attributes  to  Cyrus  the  Great.  Herodotus  (Book  viii.  98)  tells  how 
Xerxes  used  couriers  to  convey  to  the  Persians  the  fact  of  his  defeat  at 
Salamis.  He  says  that  '•  nothing  mortal  travels  so  fast  as  these  Persian 
messengers "  ;  also  that  the  name  by  which  they  were  called  was 
ayyaprjLos.  Gibbon  (Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  i.  63,  64) 
says:  "  The  advantage  of  receiving  the  earliest  intelligence, and  of  convey- 
ing their  orders  with  celerity,  induced  the  emperors  to  establish  throughout 
their  extensive  dominions  the  regular  institution  of  posts.  Houses  were 
everywhere  erected  at  the  distance  of  five  or  six  miles ;  each  of  them 
was  constantly  provided  with  forty  horses,  and  by  the  help  of  these 
relays  it  was  easy  to  travel  a  hundred  miles  in  a  day  along  the  Roman 
roads.  The  use  of  the  posts  was  allowed  to  those  who  claimed  it  by  an 
imperial  mandate  ;  but  though  originally  intended  for  the  public  ser- 
vice, it  was  sometimes  indulged  to  the  business  or  convenience  of  private 
citizens." 

There  were  couriers  upon  foot  and  couriers  upon  horses.  The 
former  were  the  Latin  cursores,  and  these  couriers  were  called  by 
the  Greeks  rjixepoSpoixoi.  They  were  supposed  to  have  the  power  to 
run  through  the  whole  day.  Livy  (Hist.,  Bk.  xxxi.  c.  24)  says  of 
them,  i-ngens  die  uno  cursu  emetientes  spatium.  He  seems  to  have 
thought  that  they  took  their  name  from  their  being  able  to  run  a  great 
distance  in  a  single  day.  Herodotus  (Bk.  vi.  c.  105)  says:  "The 
generals  sent  off  to  Sparta  a  herald,  one  Pheidippidess,  who  was  by 
birth  an  Athenian,  and  by  profession  and  practice  a  trained  runner 
(rjfji€po8p6ixov)."  Plato  (Protagoras,  336)  says:  "What  you  ask  is  as 
great  an  impossibility  to  me  as  if  you  would  have  me  run  a  race  with 
Crison  of  Himera,  when  in  his  prime,  or  with  some  one  of  the  long  or 
day-course  runners  (rjfjiepoSpoixoi)" 

The  n"'S'^  are  mentioned  in  2  Sam.  xv.  1  :  "  Absalom  prepared  him 

chariots  and  horses,  and  fifty  men  (c'^S'n)  to  run  before  him."     The 

royal  messengers  and  body-guard  of  the  Jewish  kings  were  called  C^^"^ 

(2  Kings  X.  25). 

1  Esther  viii.  10,  14. 


156  EXCURSUSES. 

EXOUESUS   M. 

COUKSERS.i 

The  ^^^_  were  a  superior  breed  of  horses,  famous  for  their  great 
speed.  Gesenius  (in  Thesaurus)  says  :  ffiS"!  equus  generosicr  et  velocis- 
simus.  In  1  Kings  iv.  28,  ir^'i  distinguuntur  a  Q^DiiO.  Fuerst  (He- 
brew Lexicon)  says  :  laD"!  is  a  racer,  a  swift  horse,  a  courser. 

"  Mules,  the  offspring  of  mares."  This  is  a  locus  vexatissimus.  Cl'ndnx 
signifies  a  kind  of  mules,  ^/ri  equarum.  Pliny  (Nat.  Hist.,  Vol.  viii. 
p.  44)  says :  ex  asino  et  equa  geniti  sunt  nobiliores  quum  qui  ex  equo 
et  asina.     But  compare  Excursus  A.,  s^lb  voce. 

EXOUESUS  N. 

TRIBUTE.* 

The  subject  of  tribute  furnishes  an  interesting  study  both  as  it  relates 
to  the  Jews  and  to  the  nations  to  whom  they  became  tribute-payers.  The 
Hebrew  word  G^g  is  usually  derived  from  DOa ,  which  means  to  wear  or 
waste  away,  because  tribute  is  sure  to  waste  away  the  people  who  pay 
it.  But  Fuerst  derives  tiQ  from  an  unused  root  txya ,  which  means  to 
divide  or  separate,  then  to  number,  measure,  or  distribute,  e.g.  a  tax 
(vid.  Fuerst's  Hebrew  Lexicon).  Gesenius  derives  it  from  ccr  ,  which 
means  to  divide.  In  his  Thesaurus  he  says :  Nuper  quidem  Studerus 
vulgarem  derivationem  a  0073  ita  explicuit,  ut  0^  pr.  sit  coutritio 
virium.  dein  coucr.  contritus,  substratus  (quidni  saltem  confectus  ?  coll. 
0^,  Job  vi.  14,  nam  ilia  potestas  in  radice  vix  inest)  ;  sed  nil  dubito, 
quin  aliter  judicasset  vir  doctissimus,  si  arctam  necessitudinem  inter  vcc. 
0575  ,  n0372  et  op ,  nan  reputasset.  Thesaurus,  sub  voce.  The  LXX 
render  the  verse  (x.  1)  "Eypaij/e  8e  6  /3ao-tAeiis  iirl  Tr]v  ^atrtXeiav  tyjs  t£ 
yrj'i   Koi  T^5  OaXdacrr]^. 

There  is  no  specific  word  for  tribute.  The  idea  is  generic,  being 
embraced  in  eypaif/e.  The  Vulgate  renders  it  (x.  1)  :  Rex  vero  Anuerus 
omnem  terram,  et  cunctas  maris  insulas  fecit  tributarias.  ,  Here  the 
idea  is  generic  also.  So  that  the  meaning  of  Oo  in  x.  1  is  indefinite 
or  all-embracing.  Three  kinds  of  tribute  were  common  :  (1)  in  money; 
(2)  in  products ;  (3)  in  bond-service,  or  personal  labor.  The  word  D^ 
in  X.  1  includes  them  all. 

The  Jews  were  very  poor  tribute-payers  to  their  conquerors.     They 

acknowledged  no  one  as  their  sovereign  but  Jehovah.     To  him   they 

gave  yearly  their  capitation-tax  of  half  a  shekel,  as  an  acknowledgment 

that  he  was  king  and  they  were  his  subjects.     Even  as  late  as  the  time 

1  Esther  viii.  10.  2  Esther  x.  I. 


EXCURSUSES.  157 

of  Clirist  tlie  Jews  asked  :  "  AVliiit  thinker  t  thou  ?  Is  it  hiwful  to  give 
tribute  unto  Caesar,  or  not  "  (Matt.  xxii.  17)  ?  They  had  conscientious 
scruples  about  it,  and  they  were  ever  a  rebellious  and  stiff-necked  peo- 
ple, as  tlieir  conquerors  were  sure  to  find.  The  Hebrew  word  C^  occurs 
in  the  Old  Testament  twenty-four  times,  and  is  translated  usually  by 
tribute.  Three  times  it  is  rendered  levij  ;  because  it  refers  to  the  merp 
who  were  paying  the  tribute  by  personal  service. 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  Darius,  the  father  of  Xerxes,  was  the  first 
Persian  king  who  levied  a  general  tribute  upon  his  subjects.  "  And 
now,  when  his  power  was  established  firmly  throughout  all  the  king- 
doms, the  first  thing  that  he  did  was  to  set  up  a  carving  in  stone,  which 
showed  a  man  mounted  upon  a  horse,  with  an  inscription  in  these 
words  following :  '  Darius,  son  of  Hystaspes,  by  aid  of  his  good  horse 
(here  followed  the  horse's  name),  and  of  his  good  groom  Oebares,  got 
himself  the  kingdom  of  the  Persians.'  "  This  he  set  up  in  Persia;  and 
afterwards  he  proceeded  to  establish  twenty  governments  of  the  kind 
which  the  Persians  call  satrapies,  assigning  to  each  its  governor,  and' 
fixing  the  tribute  which  was  to  be  paid  him  by  the  several  nations. 
And  generally  he  joined  together  in  one  satrapy  the  nations  that  were 
neighbors  ;  but  sometimes  he  jjassed  over  the  nearer  tribes,  and  put  in 
their  stead  those  who  were  more  remote.  The  following  is  an  account 
of  these  governments,  and  of  the  yearly  tribute  which  they  paid  to  the 
king :  "  Such  as  brought  their  tribute  in  silver  were  ordered  to  pay 
according  to  the  Babylonian  talent ;  while  the  Euboic  was  the  standard 
measure  for  such  as  brought  gold.  Now  the  Babylonian  talent  con- 
tains seventy  Euboic  minae.  During  all  the  reign' of  Cyrus,  and  after- 
ward when  Cambyses  ruled,  there  were  no  fixed  tributes,  but  the 
nations  severally  brought  gifts  to  the  king.  On  account  of  this  and 
other  like  doings,  the  Persians  say  that  Darius  was  a  huckster,  Cambyses 
a  master,  and  Cyrus  a  father ;  for  Darius  looked  to  making  a  gain  In 
everything,  Cambyses  was  harsh  and  reckless,  while  Cyrus  was  gentle, 
and  procured  them  all  manner  of  goods"  (Herodotus,  History,  Bk.  iii. 
88,89,  Rawlinson's  transl.).  Herodotus  proceeds  to  enumerate  the 
nations  which  compose  each  of  the  twenty  satrapies,  with  the  sum  which 
each  paid.  Then  he  says  :  "  If  the  Babylonian  money  here  spoken  of 
be  reduced  to  the  Euboic  scale,  it  will  make  nine  thousand  ^we  hundred 
and  forty  such  talents;  and  if  the  gold  be  reckoned  at  thirteen  times- 
the  worth  of  silver,  the  Indian  gold-dust  will  come  to  four  thousand  six. 
hundred  and  eighty  talents.  Add  these  two  amounts  together,  and  the 
whole  revenue  which  came  in  to  Darius,  year  by  year,  will  be  found  to 
be  in  Euboic  money  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  talents, 
not  to  mention  parts  of  a  talent." 


158  EXCURSUSES. 

"  Such  was  the  revenue  which  Darius  derived  from  Asia  and  a  small 
part  of  Libya.  Later  in  his  reign  the  sum  was  increased  by  the  tribute 
of  the  islands,  and  of  the  nations  of  Europe  as  far  as  Thessaly.  The 
great  king  stores  away  the  tribute  which  he  receives  after  this  fashion, 

—  he  melts  it  down,  and  while  it  is  in  a  liquid  state  runs  it  into  earthen 
vessels,  which  are  afterwards  removed,  leaving  the  metal  in  a  solid 
mass.  When  money  is  wanted,  he  coins  as  much  of  this  bullion  as  the 
occasion  requires."  (Herodotus,  iii.  95,  96,  Rawlinson's  transl.).  Canon 
Rawliiison  remarks  on  the  sum  mentioned  above  :  "  Taking  the  lowest 
estimate  which  his  [Herodotus's]  numbers  allow,  the  annual  revenue  of 
Persia  was  about  three  and  a  halt  millions  of  our  [the  English]  money." 
Three  and  a  half  million  pounds  sterling  would  be  equal  to  seven- 
teen and  a  half  million  dollars.  When  we  remember  that  ancient 
money  was  worth  —  i.e.  cost  to  obtain  it,  and  had  a  purchasing  power 

—  fifteen  times  as  much  as  the  same  money  now,  we  see  that  the  annual 
tribute  paid  to  the  great  king  amounted  to  the  considerable  sum  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty-two  million  dollars  in  our  time.  Mr.  Grote 
reckons  the  sum  of  Darius's  ti'ibute  as  about  one  third  larger  than  this 
(vid.  Grote's  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  iii.  p.  201).  This  immense  sum 
was  designed  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  court  in  the  time  of  peace. 
The  tribute  referred  to  in  the  text  (x.  1)  was,  doubtless,  a  heavy  tax 
laid  upon  all  the  countries  subject  to  the  rule  of  Xerxes,  to  repair  the 
losses  sustained  in  the  disastrous  Grecian  campaign. 

In  the  tenth  chamber  of  the  palace  at  Khorsabad,  M.  Botta  dis- 
covered sculptures  and  inscriptions  which  illustrate  the  method  of 
delivering  the  tribute  which  the  people  in  the  Assyrian  and  Persian 
kingdoms  paid  their  sovereigns.  "  The  first  eight  persons  on  the  upper 
line  to  the  right  who  follow  Tartan,  the  chief  of  tribute,  wear  the  close 
turbans  or  caps,  and  are  dressed  in  long  tunics,  with .  short  outer  gar- 
ments rounded  at  the  corners  and  fringed,  sometimes  with  a  clasp  at 

the  waist,  and  boots  laced  up  in  front The  first  carries  the  model 

of  a  city,  indicative  of  his  oflEice  of  governor  or  sultan  of  a  province. 
These  officers  —  apparently  native  chiefs  of  the  subdued  province  or 
city,  NPS'^^TD  ijaV"^,  the  Sultani  Medinetha,  of  the  court  of  Nebo.chad- 
nezzar  in  the  time  of  the  prophet  Daniel  —  were  summoned,  among 
others,  to  come  to  the  dedication  of  the  image  which  that  monarch  had 
set  up  in  the  plain  of  Dura,  in  the  province  of  Babylon.  This  officer 
is  followed  by  three  persons,  the  first  two  bearing  two  cups,  the  produce 
or  manufacture  of  the  province;  and  the  third  a  sealed  bag  upon  his 
shoulders,  containing  the  amount  of  tribute,  either  in  gold-dust  or 
precious  stones,  furnished  by  the  province  of  which  the  venerable  per- 


EXCURSUSES.  159 

son  at  the  head  of  the  procession  was  the  sultan  or  governor ;  or  the 
tribute  may  possibly  be  pieces  of  gold,  such  as  Naaman,  the  captain  of 
the  king  of  Syria,  brought  as  payment  for  his  cure  ;  or  sucji  as  Abra- 
ham paid  for  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  'current  money  with  the  mer- 
chant'" (Bonomi,  Nineveh  and  its  Palaces,  p,  172,  revised  ed.  pp. 
151,  152). 

From  the  above  we  can  see  how  humiliating  was  the  process  of 
tribute-paying.  No  wonder  that  spirited  and  high-minded  princes  were 
unwilling  to  undergo  it,  and  used  all  the  means  at  their  command  to  be 
independent.  Every  year  they  were  not  only  to  part  with  their  treasure, 
but  to  be  put  to  shame  in  the  presence  of  their  hated  conquerors.  Th-e 
writer  of  this  saw  in  the  British  Museum  the  black  obelisk  of  Shalmanezer 
II.,  the  inscriptions  on  which  show  the  Shuites  bringing  from  the 
Euphrates  elephant's  tusks,  staves  of  precious  wood,  l:)ags  of  costly 
metals,  and  other  treasures  as  their  tribute  to  the  Assyrian  king.  On 
another  side  of  the  same  obelisk  are  carved  an  elephant  and  several 
monkeys,  which  are  being  brought  as  tribute  from  some  distant  people. 

The  money  paid  for  the  support  of  the  court,  or  central  government, 
was  only  a  part  of  the  tribute  which  the  Persian  subject  was  obliged  to 
pay.  Over  each  of  the  satrapies,  which  varied  in  number  from  twenty 
to  twenty-nine,  Darius  placed  a  satrap,  or  supreme  civil  governor, 
charged  with  the  collection  and  transmission  of  the  revenue,  the  admin- 
istration of  justice,  the  maintenance  of  order,  and  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  territory.  These  satraps  were  nominated  by  the  king  at 
his  pleasure  from  any  class  of  his  subjects,  and  held  office  for  no  definite 
term,  but  simply  until  recalled,  being  liable  to  deprivation  or  death  at 
any  moment  without  other  formality  than  the  presentation  of  the  royal 
firman.  "While,  however,  they  remained  in  office  they  were  despotic 
—  they  represented  the  gi^at  king,  and  were  clothed  with  a  portion  of  his 
majesty — they  had  palaces  (f^aa-iXua),  courts,  body-guards,  parks,  or 
'  paradises,'  vast  trains  of  eunuchs  and  attendants,  well-filled  seraglios. 
They  wielded  the  power  of  life  and  death.  They  assessed  the  tribute  on 
the  several  towns  and  villages  within  their  jurisdiction  at  their  pleasure, 
and  appointed  deputies  —  called  sometimes,  like  themselves,  satraps  — 
over  cities  or  districts  within  their  province,  whose  office  was  regarded 
as  one  of  great  dignity.  They  exacted  from  the  provincials  for  their 
own  support  and  that  of  their  court,  over  and  above  the  tribute  due  to 
the  crown,  whatever  sum  they  regarded  them  as  capable  of  furnishing. 
Favors,  and  even  justice,  had  to  be  purchased  from  them  by  gifts.  They 
were  sometimes  guilty  of  gross  outrages  on  the  persons  and  honor  of 
their  subjects.     Nothing  restrained  their  tyranny  but  such  sense  of  right 


160  EXCURSUSES. 

as  they  might  hajipen  to  possess,  and  the  fear  of  removal  or  execction, 
if  the  voice  of  complaint  reached  the  monarch  (Rawlinson,  Auc.  Mon., 
Vol.  iii.  p.  418).  "Persia  paid  no  tribute^  and  was  not  counted  as  a 
satrapy.  Its  inhabitants  were,  however^  bound,  when  the  king  passed 
through  their  country  to  bring  him  gifts  according  to  their  means" 
(Rawlinson,  Anc,  Men.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  420).  "  Peysian  subjects  in  many 
parts  of  the  Empire  paid,  Resides  their  tribute,  a  water-rate,  which  is 
expressly  said  to  have  been  very  productive.  The  rivers  of  the  Em- 
pire were  the  king's  ;  and  when  water  was  required  for  irrigation,  a 
state  officer  superintended  the  opening  of  the  sluices,  and  regulated  the 
amount  of  the  precious  fluid  which  might  be  drawn  off  by  each  tribe  or 
township.  For  the  opening  of  the  sluices  a  large  sum  was  paid  to  the 
officer,  which  found  its  way  into  the  coffers  of  the  state. 

"  Further,  it  appears  that  such  things  as  fisheries  —  and  if  so,  probably 
salt-works,  mines,  quarries,  and  forests  —  were  regarded  as  crown 
property,  and  yielded  large  sums  to  the  revenue.  They  appear  to  have 
been  farmed  to  responsible  persons,  who  undertook  to  pay  at  a  certain 
fixed  rate,  and  made  what  profit  they  could  by  the  transaction.  The 
price  of  commodities  thus  farmed  would  be  greatly  enhanced  to  the 
consumer"  (Ibid.,  p.  422).  "  While  the  claims  of  the  crown  upon  its 
subjects  were  definite  and  could  not  be  exceeded,  the  satrap  was  at  lib- 
erty to  make  any  exactions  that  he  pleased  beyond  them.  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  he  received  no  stipend,  and  that,  conse- 
quently, the  burden  of  supporting  him,  his  body-guard,  and  his  court 
was  intended  to  fall  on  the  province  which  had  the  benefit  of  his  super- 
intendence. Like  a  Roman  proconsul,  he  was  to  pay  himself  out  of 
the  pockets  of  his  subjects ;  and  like  that  class  of  persons,  he  took 
care  to  pay  himself  highly.  It  has  been  calculated  that  one  satrap  of 
Bal)ylon  drew  from  his  province  annually  in  actual  coin  a  sum  equal 
to  £100,000  [$500,000]  of  our  money.  We  can  scarcely  doubt  that 
the  claims  made  by  the  provincial  governors  were,  on  the  average,  at 
least  equal  to  those  of  the  crown ;  and  they  had  the  disadvantage  of 
being  irregular,  uncertain,  and  purely  arbitrary  "  (Ibid.,  p.  423).  Canon 
Rawlinson  estimates  the  population  of  the  Persian  empire  during  the 
reigns  of  Darius  Ilystaspis  and  Xerxes  I,  at  fifty  millions  of  souls 
(vid.  his  Anc.  Mon.,  Vol.  iii.  p.  422,  note). 

Keil  says :  "  The  Persian  empire,  in  its  whole  extent  from  India  to 
Ethiopia,  must  have  contained  a  population  of  at  least  100,000,000, 
and  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  realm  must  have  amounted  to  from 
two  to  three  millions "  (Keil,  Commentary  on  the  Boob"  of  Esther, 
p.  308). 


EXCURSUSES.  161 

EXCURSUS  0, 
THE    UX  WHIT  TEN    NAME. 

Tacitus  tells  us  that  at  the  funeral  of  Junia,  the  sister  of  Marcus 
Brutus  and  the  wife  of  Caius  Cassius,  the  images  of  twenty  of  the  most 
illustrious  Roman  families  were  carried  in  the  procession  ;  but  the 
images  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  were  left  standing  in  their  places,  and 
"  for  that  very  reason  they  shone  with  pre-eminent  lustre."  (Tacitus, 
Annals  iii.  76.) 

Nowhere  in  the  Book  of  Esther  does  any  distinctive  name  of  God 
ocour.  Neither  is  any  title  of  Deity  found  in  Solomon's  Song.  We 
read  these  books  from  beginning  to  end,  and  see  traces  of  God.  his  love, 
wisdom,  power,  yea,  the  marks  of  all  his  glorious  attributes  ;  but  no 
divine  appellation  is  there  spelled  out.  This  is  a  significant  fact  and 
draws  attention  to  these  books. 

Various  reasons  are  given  why  in  the  Book  of  Esther  there  is  no 
mention  of  the  divine  name. 

1.  Some  account  for  it  by  the  low  state  of  piety  among  the  Jews 
who  remained  iu  the  land  of  their  captivity. 

God  is  to  «s  wliat  we  are  to  him.  If  we  seek  him  and  honor  him, 
doing  his  will,  often  calling  upon  his  name,  he  will  reveal  liimself 
unto  us  by  clear  and  manifold  tokens  of  his  power  and  love.  But  if 
we  neglect  him,  walking  in  other  counsel,  seeking  other  objects,  pre- 
ferring the  creature  before  the  Creator,  then  we  lose  the  symbols,  the 
tokens  of  the  Divine  One,  grope  in  darkness  and  fail  to  find  the  manifest 
helps  and  encouragements  which  Abraham  and  Isaac,  Moses  and  David, 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah, enjoyed. 

IMordecai  and  Esther,  *he  pnncifiai  characters  in  this  book,  perhaps  • 
belonged  to  that  class  of  Jews  who  preferred  the  luxuries  and  honors 
of  Persia  to  the  self-denials  and  hardships  of  Palestine.  They  were 
not,  to  an  eminent  degree,  spiritually  minded.  Sixty  years  before  the 
transactions  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  Zerubbal)el  had  led  back 
to  Palestine  fifty  thousand  of  his  countrymen,  rebuilt  the  temple,  and 
dedicated  it  to  Jehovah.  Read  the  account  of  this  in  the  Book  of  Ezra. 
and  you  discover  no  lack  of  the  natne  of  God  there.  Tliose  Jews 
openly  and  courageously  walked  with  Jehovah,  and  they  enjoyed  all 
the  visible  signs  of  his  presence. 

Twenty  years  after  Esther  had  been  made  <iueen,  Ezra  received  his 
commission  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  with  a  considerable  company  of  Israel- 
ites, with  the  purpose  of  reforming  tlie  moral  and  religious  customs 
21 


162  EXCURSUSES. 

of  tlie  people.  Jehovah  is  known  and  worshipped,  in  his  distinctive 
names,  by  those  wlio  composed  this  band.  And  thirteen  years  after 
chat,  when  Nehemiah,  the  devout  statesman,  went  up  to  the  dilapidated 
capital  of  the  land  which  above  all  others  he  loved,  there  is  not  any- 
thing to  indicate  that  the  God  of  his  fathers  was  not  addressed  by  all 
his  titles. 

Some  scholars  claim  that  the  Jews  who  remained  in  Persia  did  not 
walk  closely  with  God,  did  not  serve  him  with  holy  boldness  and  zeal, 
and  therefore  his  name  and  special  visible  presence  were  not  with  them. 

Some  rabbis  say  that  Mordecai  wrote  the  Book  of  Esther,  not  men- 
tioning the  name  of  God  lest  when  the  story  should  be  read  by  heathen 
lips  the  holy  name  of  the  Jews'  God  should  be  defiled.  Not  even  the 
Jews  in  Palestine  ever  pronounced  the  name  Jehovah.  They  shrunk 
with  secret  dread  from  having  any  of  the  titles  of  their  Deity  found  in* 
the  literature  or  conversation  of  the  accursed  nations. 

We  should  state  that  there  is  in  the  Book  of  Esther  no  mention  of 
sacrifices  ;  of  prayer  ;  of  worship,  other  than  fasting  ;  of  the  holy  land  ; 
of  the  temple  ;  or  of  that  patriotic  feeling  which  is  such  a  marked 
feature  in  the  Jewish  character.  Everything  distinctively  Jewish  seems 
to  be  sunk  out  of  sight,  and  the  writer  is  intent  upon  one  thing  —  the 
exhibition  of  a  Providence  which  is  ubiquitous,  and  adequate  to  the 
needs  of  his  people.  ' 

Bishop  Wordsworth  claims  that  we  find  a  sufficient  cause  for  conceal- 
ment of  the  divine  name  in  the  fact  that  the  Jews  who  remained  in 
Persia  loved  Susa  rather  than  Zion,  "  the  courts  of  earthly  princes 
more  than  the  church  of  the  living  God."  They  chose  the  path  of  ease 
and  selfish  pleasure  rather  than  the  rugged  and  dangerous  ways  in 
which  the  people  of  God  have  ever,  in  this  their  weary  pilgrimage, 
been  called  to  walk.  The  Lord  recompensed  them  according  to  their 
righteousness.  They  did  not  profess  him,  and  he  withheld  his  glory 
from  them. 

2.  Another  explanation  of  the  absence  of  God's  name  from  the 
Book  of  Esther  is  that  the  book  is  a  literal  translation  from  the  official 
records  of  the  Persian  court. 

If  this  were  true,  we  should  expect  the  book  not  only  to  breathe  the 
spirit,  and  abound  in  allusions  to  the  customs,  of  the  people  to  whom 
the  Jews  were  subject,  but  to  retain  their  idioms  and  phraseology. 
Canon  Rawlinson  has  given  a  list  of  purely  Persian  words  found  in 
the  book.  The  entire  document  is  transfused  with  the  aroma  of  the 
people  over  whom  Xerxes  proudly  held  sway. 

This  view  of  the  origin  of  the  book  may  enable  us  to  explain  some 


EXCURSUSES.  ■  163 

things  otherwise  obscure  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  tlie  key  that  fits  this 
lock.  The  difficulties  that  it  creates  are  more  than  those  which  it 
removes.  The  official  records  of  the  Persian  empire  were  written  in 
verse,  and  have  the  stamp  of  jwetic  rhythm.  Were  this  book  a  literal 
translation  this  element  could  not  be  concealed.  We  need  not  deny 
that  it  is  possible  that  God  should  excerpt  from  the  diary  of  a  volup- 
tuous and  atrocious  heathen  monarch  what  he  would  put  into  his 
volume  as  a  part  of  his  holy  word,  "profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness."  A  rose  may  be 
plucked  from  a  dunghill,  and  that  rose  may  adorn  the  brow  of  a 
queen.  So  the  most  useful  lesson  for  the  instruction  of  the  church 
may  grow  out  of  the  conduct  of  notoriously  wicked  men.  But  a  rose 
is  not  a  dunghill,  nor  is  the  Book  of  Esther  necessarily  a  literal  extract 
from  the  official  diary  of  Xerxes. 

We  have  it  on  the  highest  authority,  that  "  holy  men  of  old  spake 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost " ;  and  that  "  all  scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God."  Facts,  nevertheless,  may  be  derived 
from  any  source.  They  may  be  recorded  by  a  sacred  penman,  and 
thus  become  a  portion  of  the  word  which  God  has  given  to  man. 
There  is  no  objection  to  the  idea  that  whoever  w-rote  this  book  had 
the  records  of  the  Persian  court  before  him  when  he  wrote.  There  is 
a  marvellous  historical  accuracy  and  minuteness  of  detail  in  the  book 
which  can  best  be  explained  in  this  way.  But  it  scarcely  harmoni?es 
with  our  ideas  of  inspiration  and  of  the  sacredness  of  the  Bible  to 
think  that  one  of  its  books  was  taken  entire  from  the  chronicles  of 
such  a  king  as  Xerxes. 

3.  The  better  and  more  probable  explanation  is  that  IMordecai  or 
Ezra,  or  some  unknown  devout  Jew,  was  the  author  of  the  book ;  and 
that  of  design  the  name  of*  God  does  not  appear  in  it.  God  is  in  the 
book.  His  overruling  providence  is  apparent  on  every  page.  His 
love  for  his  people,  his  thwarting  and  punishing  of  them  that  hate 
him  and  his  are  everywhere  visible.  The  book  thus  considered  is, 
without  a  divine  name  written  in  it,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  ways 
and  works  of  God. 

Archbishop  Trench  says  :  "  It  was  observed  by  one  wise  man  to 
another  that  his  questions  taught  more  than  other  people's  answers." 
And  he  adds  :  "  The  silence  of  Scripture  is  often  more  instructive  than 
the  teaching  of  other  books."  One  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  its  silence  on  many  topics  concerning  which 
an  uninspired  mind  would  have  spoken.  Robert  Boyle  says:  "The 
Scripture  is  like  a  dial,  in  which  we  are  informed  by  the  shadow  as 


ICA  EXCURSUSES. 

well  as  by  tlie  light."  Archer  Butler  remarks  about  the  Bible  :  '  What 
v.'e  see  is  holy  ;  but  what  we  see  not  is  holier  still." 

Many  a  time  to  repress  an  unhallowed  curiosity,  or  to  exercise  his 
people's  faith,  or  to  vindicate  his  own  prerogative,  or,  it  may  be,  to 
evolve  his  own  plans  into  clearer  and  grander  harmony,  God  throws 
a  veil  about  some  important  matter.  There  is,  however,  no  conceal- 
ment in  the  Bible  upon  matters  that  concern  personal  duty  and  the 
salvation  of  the  soul.  All  those  points  are  made  as  clear  as  noonday. 
Repentance  of  sin  and  faith  in  the  Crucified  One  cannot  be  made  simpler 
or  more  radiant.  Upon  these  things  there  is  no  theorizing,  even.  The 
great  duties  of  life  are  dogmatically  asserted  in  the  Bible.  "Thou 
shalt  not  kill."  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  The  processes  by  which  the 
results  are  arrived  at  are  not  given.  "VVe  cannot  see  the  reasons  of 
things  as  they  present  themselves  to  the  divine  mind.  And  if  this 
book  be  God's  word,  it  must  have  concealments  in  it,  or  it  would  not 
have  the  seal  of  the  All-wise  One  on  it.  A  beautiful  book  of  the 
Bible,  without  the  Divine  name  may  yet  have  a  Divine  impress,  even 
as  the  diamond,  the  most  resplendent  thing  in  the  mineral  kingdom,  has 
that  impress,  though  bearing  no  inscription  telling  its  author. 

The  Bible  is  as  remarkable  for  what  is  not  written  in  it  as  for  what 
is  written.  This  silence  constitutes  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
of  grandeur  in  the  word  of  God.  "  It  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  a 
thing"  (Prov.  xxv.  2  ).  How  many  times  Jesus  charged  his  disciples 
that  they  "  should  tell  no  man  "  that  he  was  the  Chi-ist,  or  blazon  abroad 
his  wonderful  works.  Is  not  this  explanation  of  it  found  in  the  words 
of  Isaiah  :  "  He  shall  not  strive  nor  cry ;  neither  shall  any  man  hear 
his  voi<?e  in  the  street "  ?  Are  we  not  taught  that  one  of  the  most 
marked  evidences  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  was  his  silence  ?  The 
Son  of  God  did  not  shout  and  cry  in  the  world.  That  was  not  the 
evidence  of  his  divinity.  He  came  like  the  sunbeam,  softly,  silently, 
gently  on  the  world,  and  did  his  saving  work.  He  came  like  the  dew, 
noiselessly  blessing  humanity  ;  not  like  the  tempest  with  roaring  winds, 
or  the  riving  lightning,  or  pealing  thunder.  The  truly  divine  element 
in  God  or  man  is  the  silent  one.  Noise,  display,  demonstration, 
parade  are  of  the  earth,  earthy,  or  belong  to  the  coarser  forms  of 
selfishness. 

If  we  take  the  life  of  Christ  as  given  to  us  by  the  evangelists  and 
consider  it  as  one  whole,  how  large  a  part  of  it  is  concealed  !  Who  can 
tell  the  day  of  his  birth  ;  the  day  of  his  baptism  ;  the  exact  time  of 
his  entering  upon  his  public  ministry  ;  the  number  of  parables  or 
discourses    he    spoke ;    the    number    of    miracles    he    wrought ;    the 


EXCURSUSES.  1G5 

uumber  of  converts  he  made ;  the  number  in  his  audience  on  any 
particnhir  day  ;  the  number  of  cities  he  visited  ?  "Who  can  tell  what 
he  did  the  first  twf.dve  years  of  his  life  ?  Who  can  tell  anything  about 
the  eighteen  years  just  preceding  his  entrance  upon  his  public  ministry? 
No  epoch  in  his  life,  except  his  passion,  his  resurrection,  and  ascension 
is  so  designated  that  its  precise  anniversary  can  he  determined.  How 
unlike  many  human  biographies  ! 

Tlien  who  can  reproduce  the  stature,  the  mien,  the  features  of  Jesus  ? 
Raphael  has  done  all  that  art  can  do  to  give  us  a  picture  of  the  Crucified 
One  ;  but  we  have  only  the  product  of  Raphael's  imagination.  Jesus 
did  not  sit  for  his  portrait,  nor  did  artist  carve  his  bust.  Concealment 
characterizes  the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

These  things  being  true  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  two  books  of 
Sacred  Scripture  in  which  the  name  of  God  does  not  appear.  God 
would  have  us  love  and  reverence  his  character  and  delight  in  his 
spiritual  power  and  presence,  rather  than  stand  aghast  before  any  sym- 
bol of  himself  expressed  in  letters. 

Consider  the  rose  that  blossoms  so  beautifully  at  your  feet.  You 
cannot  spell  out  in  letters  the  name  of  God  on  it ;  but  is  not  the  wit- 
ness there  ?  Put  it  under  the  microscope  ;  is  not  its  perfection  of 
parts  divine  ?  Are  not  the  tinting  and  scolloping  divine  ?  Is  not  the 
fragrance  beyond  what  human  skill  can  produce  ?  Is  not  the  life- 
principle  in  it  superhuman  ?  It  would  be  superfluous  to  write  upon 
the  rose  :  God  made  me. 

Consider  the  human  hand,  study  its  parts,  its  powers,  its  adaptations. 
You  cannot  find  the  three  letters  "  God"  written  there  ;  but  how  plainly 
God  is  seen  in  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  displayed  in  the  mechanism 
of  the  hand.  "  For  every  house  is  builded  by  some  man  ;  but  he  that 
built  all  things  is  God  "  (  Heb.  iii.  4  ). 

We  may,  then,  explain  the  absence  of  the  name  of  God  from  the 
book  of  Esther  h/  design.  It  is  thus  in  harmony  with  the  ways  and 
the  works  of  God. 

4.  Tliough  the  name  of  God  is  not  written  in  letters  in  the  Book 
of  Esther,  his  presence  and  power,  all  his  adorable  attributes,  are 
manifest  in  every  part  of  it. 

A  kind  and  loving  Father,  caring  for  his  children,  comes  to  view  at 
every  point.  When  his  children  arc  caught  in  the  net  which  the 
wicked  have  spread  for  them,  he  does  not  forsake  them,  but  provides 
means  for  their  deliverance.  Let  the  wickedness  of  the  enemy  rise  to 
its  greatest  height,  God  rises  up  over  his  own  loved  ones  as  a  wall  of 
fire  for  their  protection.     He  is  ever  on  the  side  of  virtue  an<l  innocence. 


1G6  EXCURSUSES. 

He  turns  the  plots  of  the  wicked  to  their  own  destruction.  Haman  is 
hung  on  his  own  gallows,  and  Mordecai  is  rewarded  for  his  bold  stand 
for  the  people  of  God. 

Tn  the  whole  annals  of  mankind  you  can  find  no  passage  of  history, 
profane  or  sacred,  that  in  its  spirit  and  atmosphere  has  more  of  God 
in  it  than  the  Book  of  Esther.  There  is  no  need  that  the  Almighty 
One  should  proclaim  his  name,  to  be  seen  and  felt  in  all  the  fulness  of 
his  glory  and  power. 

Read  the  story  of  the  exodus  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  omitting 
the  name  of  God.  Is  it  needed  there  ?  Do  not  the  d^eds  proclaim 
their  Author  ?  When  it  reads  ;  God  divided  the  Red  sea  ;  God  sent 
manna  to  feed  his  people  ;  God  caused  the  water  to  8ow  out  of  the 
rock,  is  there  any  need  of  the  word  "God"  ?  Can  any  but  God  perform 
such  things  ? 

So  when,  in  this  Book  of  Esther,  we  see  a  ^jlot  cunningly  devised, 
having  on  its  side  all  the  power  and  influence  of  the  greatest  worldly 
empire  then  existing ;  when  we  see  the  axe  lifted  over  the  neck  of  this 
people,  ready  to  fall  and  exterminate  them ;  yet  a  hand  stretched  out, 
mighty  enough  and  pitying  enough  to  deliver  them  and  turn  what  was 
intended  for  their  overthrow  into  the  means  of  their  glory,  is  there 
any  need  of  saying  :  God  did  this  ?  The  protection,  the  wisdom,  the 
infinitude  of  holy  attributes  shining  out  on  every  page,  tell  who  deliv- 
ered the  endangered  people.  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ; 
and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork."  But  in  this  Book  of 
Esther  God  is  declared  more  signally  than  in  the  heavens.  Not  only 
wisdom,  but  love  shines  here.  "  God  is  love."  We  do  not  know  that 
love  is  displayed  in  the  ordering  of  the  planets.  Wisdom  and  power 
are  visible  in  the  hosts  that  deck  our  nightly  sky.  But  the  distinctive 
attribute  of  our  God  is  not  seen  in  these  works,  as  it  is  in  the  events 
recorded  in  the  book  before  us.  From  the  first  chapter  to  the  last  we 
are  made  to  wonder  at  the  exhibition  of  a  divine  love,  which  is  ever 
present  to  guard  and  keep  his  chosen  ones.  Wherever  pure,  infinite 
Love  reveals  her  face,  God,  in  all  the  plentitude  of  his  being,  is  present. 

5.  From  the  literary  character  of  the  Bible,  we  should  expect  some 
books,  like  this,  to  represent  the  anonymous  style  of  composition. 

One  of  the  marvellous  features  of  the  Bible  is  its  variety,  the  multi- 
])licity  of  forms  in  which  it  sets  before  us  divine  truth.  Every  enno- 
bling kind  of  poetry  is  found  in  the  Bible.  In  it  is  history  in  all  its 
phases  ;  there  are  orations,  epistles,  hymns,  sermons,  parables,  fables, 
proverbs,  prophecies,  narratives,  allegories,  biographies,  and  dialogues ; 
every  literary  device  —  such  as  acrostic,  alliteration,  and  puns  ;  every 


EXCURSUSES.  167 

figure  of  rhetoric  is  found  here.  Among  its  authors  are  two  kings, 
two  fishermen,  one  lawgiver,  one  judge,  one  premier,  one  goveruor, 
one  priest,  one  farmer,  one  tent-maker,  one  publican,  one  physician, 
more  than  one  missionary,  several  prophets  and  poets.  Women  may 
in  a  sense  be  reckoned  among  its  authors.  Every  legitimate  method 
of  attracting  human  attention  is  resorted  to  in  God's  word.  No  taste 
which  man  should  cultivate  can  fail  of  its  needed  food  here. 

Voltaire  said  of  the  Book  of  Ruth  that  for  simplicity  and  grace  there 
was  nothing  in  the  ancient  classics  that  equalled  it.  Many  a  youth 
who  has  turned  with  dislike  from  the  Assembly's  Catechism  has  read 
with  avidity  Pilgrim's  Progress,  though  the  latter  teaches  the  same 
doctrines  as  the  former.  Pilgrim's  Progress  presents  the  truth  with 
an  appeal  to  the  imagination.  The  names  of  the  doctrines  Lire  not 
given,  but  the  doctrines  themselves  are  made  most  prominent.  One 
most  effective  way  to  inculcate  doctrines  is  to  conceal  their  titles. 

Wherein  is  the  charm  of  the  Lord's  prayer  ?  The  word  "  God  "  is 
not  in  it ;  but  the  mercy  and  the  love,  the  providing  and  delivering 
compassion,  of  God  are  there.  He  sits  enthroned  in  every  clause  of 
it,  and  we  think  of  nothing  but  God  when  we  recite  it.  The  power 
of  this  prayer  of  prayers  is  in  its  laying  aside  the  formal  recognition  of 
Deity  ;  in  its  making  no  attempt  to  address  the  cold  intellect  of  man ; 
but  in  speaking  at  once  to  the  heart  in  the  language  of  man's  needs. 

In  the  words  "  Then  shall  enlargement  and  deliverance  arise  to  the 
Jews  from  another  place,"  we  find  no  title  of  Deity  ;  but  who  can  read 
the  words  in  their  connection  without  feeling  that  the  idea  of  God  is 
prominent  ?  In  the  author's  mind,  "  another  place  "  was  nothing  less 
than  the  throne  of  God.  Here  is  the  language  of  faith,  which  does  not 
care  to  syllable  its  oV)ject,  but  rather  describes  it  by  its  bringing  deliv- 
erance to  an  imperilled  natioh.  One  Jew  speaking  to  another  would 
put  no  other  interpretation  on  such  words. 

The  first  Book  of  Maccabees,  consisting  of  sixteen  chapters,  has  not 
the  name  of  God  in  it.  It  is  a  kind  of  theistic  narrative,  —  the  Deity 
made  much  more  prominent  to  the  mind  because  he  is  not  apparent 
to  sense, 

De  Quincy  divides  all  literature  into  two  classes,  —  literature  of 
knowledge  and  literature  of  power.  The  one  is  for  construction,  and 
has  to  do  with  the  thinking  faculties  ;  the  other  is  to  move  men,  and 
has  to  do  with  man's  actions  and  moral  nature.  Milton's  Paradise 
Lost  or  Homer's  Iliad  does  not  prove  anything.  There  is  no  demon- 
stration in  them  ;  but  they  stir  the  souls  of  men.  They  speak  to  the 
heart  and  fill  the  soul  with  quickening  images.     Longfellow's  Psalm 


1C8  EXCURSUSES. 

uf  Life  has  been  an  inspiration  to  many  a  one  whose  dull  intellect 
would  have  slept  till  the  crack  of  doom.  "  With  the  heart  man 
believeth  unto  righteousness."  With  the  heart  he  grasps  the  noblest 
and  grandest  facts  of  his  being. 

The  Book  of  li^sther  is  addressed  to  the  heart  of  humanity.  It  does 
not  tell  us  in  every  verse,  or  in  any  verse,  that  God  watches  over  and 
protects  his  people ;  but  ■^e  see  him  doing  it,  and  the  impression  is 
made  at  every  step,  deep  and  strong,  that  we  are  reading  a  recital  of 
the  deeds  of  him  who  inhabiteth  eternity.  Many  a  person  who  would 
turn  from  the  Book  of  Exodus  as  only  simple  prose,  has  opened  the 
Book  of  Esther  and  read  it  with  avidity.  His  attention  is  riveted  by  a 
series  of  events  which  are  ascribed  to  no  author,  and  the  conviction  is 
forced  upon  him  that  none  but  God  could  work  so  marvellously. 

The  Jews  rank  this  book  next  to  the  Pentateuch  in  importance.  It 
is  a  wonderful  tragedy  with  the  denouement  averted.  Jehovah  is  the 
chief  actor,  all  the  more  plainly  seen  because  his  name  is  not  written. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  kinds  of  composition  is  that  in  which 
actions  are  recorded,  and  from  them  the  reader  must  spell  out  the 
names  of  the  actors.  Much  of  the  instruction  of  our  Lord  belongs  to 
this  class.  Turn  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  into  simple  nar- 
rative. How  you  have  shorn  it  of  beauty  and  of  strength  !  As  it 
stands  it  is  the  "gospel  within  the  gospel."  The  name  of  God  does 
not  occur  in  it ;  but  we  think  of  nothing  but  God  as  a  loving  and 
merciful  Father  when  we  read  it.  So  the  Book  of  Esther  is  an  Old 
Testament  parable,  in  which  the  concealments  furnish  one  of  the  chief 
attractions.  We  read  it  and  spontaneously  exclaim  :  How  wonderfully 
God  interposed  to  save  his  people  from  the  jaws  of  the  devouring  lion. 
Then  our  faith  in  the  divine  love  and  protection  is  strengthened,  and 
we  rejoice  that  "  He  who  keepeth  Israel  shall  neither  slumber  nor 
sleep."     He  is  mighty  to  save  all  that  put  their  trust  in  him. 

6.  An  inspired  book  without  the  divine  name  suggests  first,  that 
God  is  in  many  things  where  now  we  see  him  not ! 

How  many  of  us  receive  blessings  day  by  day,  hour  by  hour,  with- 
out remembering  who  is  the  author  !  The  water  that  we  drink,  who 
created  it?  We  can  analyze  it  —  two  parts  of  hydrogen  to  one  of 
oxygen  ;  but  who  could  manufacture  it  to  supply  our  homes  ?  The 
air  that  we  breathe  ;  how  dependent  we  are  on  its  quality  and  quan- 
tity. AVe  can  tell  its  constituents,  but  we  could  not  supply  ourselves 
with  it  for  one  hour.  The  food  that  we  eat  is  wrought  into  blood  and 
tissue  and  muscle  by  a  force  which  neither  the  scalpel  nor  the  micro- 
scope can  detect. 


EXCURSUS'F.S.  109 

We  are  in  tliis  woinltrful  laboratory  of  God  and  witness  Iiis  work- 
ing, bnt  liow  little  we  are  moved  by  it  to  own  and  bless  the  hand 
divine  by  which  all  that  we  have  and  are  consist!  The  poet  wrote: 
"  An  undevout  astronomer  is  mad."  Is  it  not  madness,  too,  to  live 
in  the  midst  of  blessings  innumerable  and  never  adore  the  Giver? 
The  name  of  God  is  not  written  on  the  health  which  we  enjoy,  on 
the  business  talents  wiiich  we  possess,  on  the  social  gifts  with  which  we 
are  endowed,  on  the  scholarship  which  Ave  have,  on  the  thousand  com- 
forts and  joys  of  our  homes  ;  but  their  very  nature  proves  them  divine. 
Unless  gratitude  and  love  are  awakened  in  our  hearts  towards  the  all- 
bountiful  Giver  of  these  benefactions,  how  can  we  hope  to  spend  count- 
less ages  with  him,  extolling  his  goodness  and  celebrating  his  praise  ? 

Secondly,  is  not  a  lesson  suggested  here  with  reference  to  the  trials 
and  troubles  of  life  ?  "What  a  volume  it  would  take  to  describe  the 
sorrows  and  griefs  of  some,  whose  hearts  are  bleeding  as  their  eyes 
run  over  these  pages  !  You  look  back  over  the  past  of  your  pilgrimage, 
scanning  it  step  by  step,  and  all  seems  dark  and  gloomy.  You  try  to 
find  some  visible  token  of  the  Divine  One  in  the  discipline,  the  losses, 
and  disappointments  which  have  come  upon  you.  Your  soul  often 
cries  out :  How  long,  0  Lord,  before  these  dark  and  unmeaning 
calamities  shall  be  past  ? 

Does  not  the  Book  of  Esther  cast  a  ray  of  light  on  your  condition  ? 
"What  disasters  were  imminent  to  God's  people  at  that  time  !  What 
a  huge,  black  cloud  was  ready  to  burst  and  pour  all  its  contents  on 
them !  What  sure  and  sudden  destruction  threatened  the  whole 
Jewish  people  !  And  how  wonderfully  the  deliverance  came  !  As 
you  read  the  book  no  name  of  God  appears ;  but  how  manifest  are 
his  saving  love  and  power !  On  every  page  we  trace  the  workings  of 
the  divine  liand,  shaping  all  ihings  for  the  rescue  of  them  that  love  him. 
In  our  trials,  our  misfortunes,  and  perplexities  God  is  present.  We 
may  not  with  the  dull  ear  of  sense  hear  his  voice,  or  with  the  glazed 
eyes  of  earth  behold  his  glory  ;  but  he  is  causing  all  things  to  work 
together  for  the  good  of  them  that  trust  in  him,  and  is  transmuting 
our  sorrows  into  light  and  joy  eternal.  When  on  the  other  shore  we 
see  as  wo  are  seen,  it  will  be  manifest  to  us  that  in  these  dark  places 
of  our  pilgrimage  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Almighty  One  were 
with  us  and  it  was  his  loving  hand  that  guarded  us.  "The  Lord  is 
thy  keeper."  God  is  with  us,  though  we  see  him  not.  When  human 
strength  and  wisdom  fail  us  we  can  look  up  to  the  throne  where  the 
ever-living  and  all-loving  One  sits,  being  assured  that  if  we  are  his 
children  -'enlargement  and  deliverance  will  arise"  to  us. 
22 


170  EXCURSUSES. 

EXCURSUS   P. 

THE    SEPTUAGINT    ESTHER. 

Since  the  Greek  version  of  Esther  contains  remarkable  additions 
and  variations  frequently  referred  to  in  this  volume,  we  have  thought 
best  to  give  its  English  translation.  A  very  exact  rendering  of  the 
Septuagint  into  our  language  is  published  by  S.  Bagster  and  Sons.  As 
this  is  easily  accessible  we  have  chosen  to  become  indebted  to  that  of 
Charles  Thomson.  In  doing  so,  we  hope  to  call  further  attention  to  a 
work  of  which  American  Bible  scholars,  at  least,  should  not  be  ignorant, 
—  "The  Old  Covenant,  commonly  chilled  the  Old  Testament,  translated 
from  the  Septuagint.  By  Charles  Thomson,  late  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States.  Printed  by  Jane  Aitkin.  Philadelphia. 
1808."  Prof.  Francis  Bowen,  in  the  Princeton  Review  for  Jan.  1883, 
has  represented  the  excellences  of  this  translation.  As  Thomson  does 
not  give  the  additions,  we  have  borrowed  these  from  Bagster,  and  mark 
them  by  brackets. 

[In  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  the  great  king,  on 
the  first  day  of  Niaan,  Mardochaeus  the  &on  of  Jairus,  the  son  of 
Semeias,  the  son  of  Cisaeus,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Jew  dwelling 
in  the  city  Susa,  a  great  man,  serving  in  the  king's  palace,  saw  a 
vision.  Now  he  was  of  the  captivity  which  Nabuchodonosor  king  of 
Babylon  had  carried  captive  from  Jerusalem,  with  Jechonias  the  king 
of  Judea. 

And  this  was  his  dream :  Behold,  voices  and  a  noise,  thunders  and 
earthquake,  tumult  upon  the  earth.  And,  behold,  two  great  serpents 
came  forth,  both  ready  for  conflict,  and  there  came  from  them  a  great 
voice,  and  by  their  voice  every  nation  was  prepared  for  battle,  even  to 
fight  against  the  nation  of  the  just.  And,  behold,  a  day  of  darkness 
and  blackness,  tribulation  and  anguish,  affliction  and  great  tumult  upon 
the  earth.  And  all  the  righteous  nation  was  troubled,  fearing  their 
own  afflictions  ;  and  they  prepared  to  die,  and  cried  to  God  :  and  from 
their  cry  there  came  as  it  were  a  great  river  from  a  little  fountain, 
even  much  water.  And  light  and  the  sun  arose,  and  the  lowly  were 
exalted,  and  devoured  the  honorable. 

And  Mardochaeus  who  had  seen  this  vision  and  what  God  designed 
to  do,  having  awoke,  kept  it  in  his  heart,  and  desired  by  all  means  to 
interpret  it,  even  till  night.  And  Mardochaeus  rested  quiet  in  the 
palace  with  Gabatha  and  Tharrha  the  king's  two  chamberlains,  eunuchs 
who  guarded  the  palace.  And  he  heard  their  reasonings  and  searched 
out  their  plans,  and  learnt  that  they  were  preparing  to  lay  hands  on 


EXCURSUSES.  '        171 

kiug  Artaxerxes :  and  he  iiil'ormcd  tlie  king  concerning  tliem.  And 
the  king  examined  the  two  chaml)erluins,  and  they  confessed,  and  were 
executed.  And  the  king  wrote  these  things  for  a  memorial ;  also  Mar- 
dochaeus  wrote  concerning  these  matters.  And  the  king  commanded 
Mardochaeus  to  attend  in  the  palace,  and  gave  him  gifts  for  this  service. 
And  Aman  the  son  of  Amadatlies  the  Bugaean  was  honorable  in  the 
sight  of  the  king,  and  he  endeavored  to  hurt  Mardochaeus  and  his  peo- 
ple, because  of  the  two  chamberlains  of  the  king.] 

I.    After  these  things,  in  the  days  of  Artaxerxes  the  same  wlio 

2  reigned  from  India,  over  a  hundred    and    twenty-seven    provinces, 

3  when  Artaxerxes  was  settled  on  his  throne  in  the  city  Susoi,  in  the 
third  year  of  his  reign,  he  made  an  entertainment  for  his  friends,  both 
for  other  nations,  and  for  the  nobles  of  the  Persians  and  Medes,  and 

4  for  the  governors.  And  having  after  this  displayed  to  them  the 
riches  of  his  kingdom,  and  the  transporting  glory  of  his  riches,  for  a 

5  hundred  and  eighty  days ;  when  the  days  of  his  marriage  were  ful- 
filled, the  king  made  an  entertainment  for  all  the  nations  who  were 

6  in  the  city  for  six  days,  in  the  court  of  the  royal  palace,  which  was 
adorned  with  j^ainted  hangings  of  cotton,  extended  with  cords  of 
cotton  and  purple  yarn,  to  capitals  of  gold  and  silver,  on  pillars  of 

7  parian  marble  and  alabaster.  The  couches  were  of  gold  and  silver, 
on  a  pavement  of  smaragdine,  pin  in  e,  and  parian  stone ;  and  their 
covers  were  of  gauze,  painted  with  a  variety  of  flowers,  and  roses 
were  scattered  all  around.  The  goblets  of  gold  and  silver,  with  a 
small  carbuncled  cup  to  each,  amounted  in  value  to  thirty  thousand 
talents.     There  was  wine  in  abundance,  and  of  a  sweet  quality,  such  as 

8  the  king  himself  drank.  Now  this  entertainment  was  not  according 
to  an  established  custotrw;  but  the  king  would  have  it  so,  and  he  com- 
manded the  stewards  to  comply  with  his  pleasure,  and  that  of.  the 

9  guests.  Astin  the  queen  also  made  an  entertainment 'for  the  women 
10  in  the  royal  palace,  where  king  Artaxerxes  was.     And  on  the  seventh 

day,  the  king,  in  high  good  humor,  ordered  Aman  and  Bazan  and 
Tharraand  Baraze  and  Zatholtha  and  Abataza  and  Tharaba,the  seven 
U  chamberlains  who  waited  on  king  Artaxerxes,  to  bring  the  queen  to 
him  to  proclaim  her  queen,  and  crown  her  with  a  diadem,  and  show 
her  to  the  chiefs,  and  her  beauty  to  the  nations ;  for  she  was  beauti- 

12  ful.  But  queen  Astin  hearkened  not  to  him  to  come  with  the  cham- 
berlains, at  which  the  king  was  greatly  offended  and  inflamed  with 

13  auger,  and  he  said  to  his  friends,  Astin  hath  spoken  so  and  so ;  do 
you    therefore    execute   law    and    judgment,  touching    this    matter. 


172  EXCURSUSES. 

li  Thereupon  there  came  before  liim,  Arkesaius  and  Sarsatliaius  ami 
Malisear  the  chiefs  of  the  Persians  and  the  Medes,  who  were  near 

15  the  king,  and  had  the  first  seats  next  to  him  ;  and  told  him  according 
to  the  laws  what  ought  to  be  done  to  queen  Astin,  because  she  had 

16  not  done  what  the  king  commanded  by  the  chamberlains.  And 
Muchaius  said  to  the  king  and  to  the  chiefs,  Queen  Astin  hath  wronged, 

17  not  the  king  only,  but  also  all  the  king's  chiefs  and  leaders ;  for  he 
hath  told  them  the  queen's  conduct,  and  how  she  hath  contradicted 

18  the  king.  Therefore  as  she  has  contradicted  the  king  Artaxerxes,  so 
will  the  rest  of  the  ladies  now,  the  wives  of  the  Persian  and  Medean 
princes,  \ipon  hearing  what  she  hath  said  to  the  king,  jiresume  in  like 

1!)  manner  to  dishonor  their  husbands.  If,  therefore,  it  seemeth  good 
to  the  king,  let  him  pass  a  royal  decree,  and  let  it  be  written  accord- 

20  ing  to  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  and  let  him  not  alter  it,  nor 
suffer  the  queen  any  more  to  approach  him ;  but  let  'the  king  give 
her  royalty  to  another  woman,  better  than  her.(!)  And  let  this  edict 
of  the  king  be  proclaimed,  which  if  he  cause  to  be  done  throughout  his 
kingdom,  then  will  all  the  women,  both  rich  and  poor,  pay  respect 

21  to  their  husbands.     And  the  speech  pleased  the  king  and  the  princes ; 

22  and  the  king  did  as  Muchaius  had  spoken,  and  sent  the  decree 
throughout  the  whole  kingdom,  into  every  province  in  the  language 
and  writing  thereof,  tliat  men^  might  be  feared  by  their  own  families. 

II.  After  this  when  the  king's  wrath  was  appeased  and  he  no  more 
remembered  Astin,  nor  made  any  mention  of  what  she  had  spoken, 

i  and  how  he  had  condemned  her ;  the  king's  servants  said.  Let  there 
be  sought  for  the  king  a  virgin  of  unblemished  chastity,  and  beauti- 

;<  ful  ;  and  let  the  king  appoint  officers  in  all  the  provinces  of  liis  king- 
dom, and  let  them  select'  and  send  to  the  city  Susoi  to  the  house  of 
the  women,  virgins  remarkable  for  beauty  ;  and  let  them  be  delivered 
to  the  king's  chamberlain,  the  keeper  of  the  women  ;  and  let  the 

■i  things  necessary  for  puiification  be  given  them.  And  let  the  woman 
who  shall  please  the  king  be  made  queen  in  the  room  of  Astin.  And 
the  pi'oposal  pleased  the  king,  and  he  did  so. 

5  Now  there  was  at  the  city  of  Susoi,  a  man,  a  Jew,  whose  name 
was  Mordecai.     He  was  the  son  of  Jairus,  the  son  of  Semeias,  the 

(i  son  of  Kisaius,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  He  had  been  carried  away 
captive  from  Jerus:ileni  among  them  whom  Nabuchodonosor  king  of 

7  Babylon  had  captivated.  And  this  man  liad  a  foster  child,  a  daughter 
of  Aminadab,  his  father's  brother;  and  her  name  was  Esther.  On 
the  decease  of  her  parents  he  educated  her  to  be  a  wife  for  himself. 


EXCURSUSES.  173 

8  Rut  as  the  girl  was  beautiful,  when  the  decree  of  the  king  was  pub- 
lished, and  many  young  women  were  brought  to  tlie  city  Susoi  and 
put  under  the  care  of  Gai,  Esther  also  was  brought  to  Gai  tlie  keeper 

8  of  the  women.  And  the  young  woman  pleased  him  and  found  favor 
in  his  sight,  so  that  he  hastened  to  give  her  the  things  for  purification 
and  the  allotted  jiortion ;  and  seven  waiting  maids  were  assigned  to 
her  out  of  the  king's  house  ;  and  he  treated  her  and  her  maids  cour- 

10  teously  in  the  house  of  the  women.  Now  Esther  did  not  disclose 
her  family  nor  her  country ;  for  Mordecai  had  chai-ged  her  not  to 

11  tell.  But  jMordecai  walked  every  day  before  the  court  of  the 
women's  house  to  see  what  would  happen  to  Esther. 

12  Now  the  time  for  every  young  woman  to  go  to  the  king  was  when 
she  had  completed  twelve  months;  for  thus  were  the  days  of  their 
purification  fulfilled.  Six  months  they  were  anointed  with  oil  of 
myrrh,  and  six  months  with  aromatics  and  lotions  used  by  women. 

13  Then  she  goeth  in  to  the  king.  The  keeper  is  to  deliver  her  to 
whomsoever  the  king  ordereth  to  go  with  her  from  the  women's 

11  apartment  to  the  king's  house.  In  the  evening  she  goeth  in,  and  in 
the  morning  goeth  with  all  sf)eed  to  the  second  house  of  the  women, 
which  is  under  the  care  of  Gai,  the  king's  chamberlain,  the  keeper  of 
the  women,  and  no  more  cometh  to  the  king  unless  called  for  by  name. 

15  So  when  the  time  was  fulfilled  for  Esther  the  daughter  of  Aminadab, 
Mordecai's  uncle,  to  go  to  the  king,  she  neglected  nothing  -uhich  the 
chamberlain  the  keeper  of  the  women  ordered  her  ;  for  Esther  found 

\6  favor  with  all  who  saw  her.  And  Esther  went  in  to  Artaxerxes  the 
king,  in  the  twelfth  month  which  is  the  month  Adar,  in   the  sevet)fh 

17  year  of  his  reign.     And  the  king  was  enamored  of  Esther,  and  she 

18  found  favor  above  all  tiie  virgins,  so  that  he  set  the  queen's  crown  on 
her  head  and  made  an  .entertainment  for  all  his  friends  and  poten- 
tates for  seven  days,  and  to  celebrate  the  marriage  of  Esther  he  made 
a  release  to  those  under  his  government. 

19  Now  Mordecai  performed  service  in  the  court,  and  Esther  had  not 

20  yet  declared  her  family ;  for  ]\Iordecai  having  charged  her  in  this 
manner  to  fear  God  and  execute  his  commands  as  when  she  was 

21  with  him,  Esther  did  not  alter  her  conduct  And  two  of  the  king's 
chamberlains,  who  were  captains  of  his  life-guard,  being  <lispleaspd 
because  Mordecai  was  promoted,  sought  to  kill    king   Artaxerxes. 

22  But  the  matter  being  made  known  to  ]\Iordecai,  hn  informed  Esther, 

23  and  she  disclosed  the  conspiracy  to  the  king;  whereupon  the  king 
having  examined  the  chamberlains,  caused  them  to  be  hanged,  and 
ordered  a  record  to  be  made  in  the  royal  library  with  an  encomium 
on  Mordecai's  fidelity. 


174  EXCURSUSES. 

III.  After  these  things  king  Artaxerxes  honored  Haman  of  Ama- 
2  dathus  the  Bougaian,  and  promoted  him,  and  seated  him  first  of  all 

his  friends,  so  that  all  the  court  bowed  down  to  him,  for  so  the  king 
,1  had  commanded  to  be  done.     Uut  Mordecai  did  not  bow  down  to  him  ; 

whereupon  they  who  were  in  the  king's  court  said  to  him,  Mordecai, 
i  why  transgressest  thou  the  king's  command.     And  when  they  spoke 

to  him  daily  and  he  hearkened  not  to  them,  they  told  Haman  that 

Mordecai  disobeyed  the  king's  commands.     Now  Mordecai  had  told 

5  them  that  he  was  a  Jew.     So  when  Ilaman  understood  that  Mor- 

6  decai  did  not  bow  down  to  him,  he  was  greatly  inflamed  with  wrath, 
and  determined  to  destroy  all  the  Jews  throughout  the  whole  king- 

1  dom  of  Artaxerxes.     And  having  drawn  up  a  decree  in  the  twelfth 

.  year  of  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  he  cast  lots  for  one  day  after  another 
and  for  one  month  after  another  so  as  to  destroy  the  whole  race  of 

i  Mordecai  in  one  day.  And  the  lot  having  fallen  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  month  Adar,  he  spoke  to  king  Artaxerxes,  saying,  There 
is  a  nation  scattered  among  the  nations  throughout  thy  whole  king- 
dom, whose  laws  differ  from  all  the  natioiis.  And  as  they  disobey 
the  king's  laws  and  it  is  not  expedient  for  the  king  to  let  them  alone  ; 

9  if  it  seemeth  good  to  the  king,  let  him  pass  a  decree  to  destroy  them, 
and  I  will   subscribe  ten   thousand   talents  of  silver   to  the  king's 

JO  treasury.     Thereupon  the  king  taking  off  his  ring  gave  it  to  Ilaman 

11  to  seal  the  writings  against  the  Jews.     And  the  king  said  to  Haman, 

12  Keep  the  money,  and  do  with  the  nation  what  thou  pleasest.  So 
the  king's  secretaries  were  convened  on  the  thirteenth  day  of 
the  first  month,  and  they  wrote  as  Haman  directed  to  the  generals 
and  the  governors  in  every  province,  from  India  to  Ethiopia,  a 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces,  and  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
nations,  according  to  their  dialect,  in  the  name  of  king  Artaxerxes, 

0  and  the  decree  was  despatched  by  posts  throughout  the  whole  king- 
dom of  Artaxerxes,  to  destroy  the  race  of  the  Jews  on  a  certain  day 
of  the  twelfth  month  which  is  Adar,  and  to  make  spoil  of  their  goods. 

[And  the  following  is  the  copy  of  the  letter :  The  great  king 
Artaxerxes  writes  thus  to  the  rulers  and  inferior  governors  of  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  provinces,  from  India  even  to  Ethiopia,  who 
hold  authority  under  Mm.  Ruling  over  many  nations,  and  having 
obtained  dominion  over  the  whole  world,  I  was  minded  (not  elated  by 
the  confidence  of  power,  but  ever  conducting  myself  with  great  moder- 
ation and  with  gentleness),  to  make  the  lives  of  mi/  subjects  continually 
tranquil,  desiring  both  to  maintain  the  kingdom  quiet  and  orderly  to  its 


EXCURSUSES.  '    175 

utmost  limits,  and  to  restore  the  peace  desired  by  all  meiu  But  when 
I  had  encjuired  of  my  counsellors  how  this  should  be  brought  to  pass, 
Aman,  who  excels  iu  sounduess  of  judgment  aruoug  us,  and  has  been 
manifestly  well  Inclined  without  wavering  and  with  unshaken  fidelity, 
and  has  obtained  the  second  jwst  in  the  kingdom,  informed  us  that  a 
certain  ill-disposed  people  is  mixed  up  with  all  the  tribes  throughout 
the  world,  opposed  in  their  laws  to  every  other  nation,  and  continually 
neglecting  the  commands  of  the  kings,  so  that  the  united  government 
blamelessly  administered  by  us  is  not  quietly  established.  Having 
then  conceived  that  this  nation  alone  of  all  otJiers  is  continually  set  in 
opix)sition  to  every  man,  introducing  as  a  change  a  foreign  code  of 
laws,  and  injuriously  plotting  to  accomplish  the  worst  of  evils  against 
our  interests,  and  against  the  bappy  establishment  of  the  monarchy: 
we  have  accordingly  ai)pointed  those  who  are  signified  to  you  in  the 
letters  written  by  Aman,  who  is  set  over  the  public  affairs  and  is  our 
second  governor,  to  destroy  them  all  utterly  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren by  the  swords  of  the  enemies,  without  pitying  or  sparing  any,  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  the  twelfth  month  Adar,  of  the  present  year; 
that  the  people  aforetime  and  now  ill-disposed  to  tts,  having  been  vio- 
lently consigned  to  death  in  one  day,  may  hereafter  secure  to  us  con- 
tinually a  well  constituted  and  quiet  state  of  affairs.'} 

U  And  copies  of  the  decree  were  to  be  sent  throughout  every  province, 
15  and  all  the  nations  w<jre  ordered  to  be  ready  against  that  day.     And 
when  the  Imsiness  was  despatclied  at  Susoi,  the  king  and  liaman  sat 
down  to  revel,  but  the  city  was  struck  with  consternation. 

IV.  Now  when  Mordecai  knew  what  was  done,  he  rent  his  clothes 
and  put  on  sackcloth  and  strewed  himself  with  ashes,  and  running 
through  the  streets  of  the  cit}^  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  A  nation 

2  is  to  be  cut  off,  which  hath  committed  -no  fault.  But  when  he  came 
to  the  king's  gate,  he  stopped  ;  for  it  was  not  lawful  forhim  to  enter 

3  the  court  in  sackcloth  and  ashes-  And  in  every  country  where  the 
writings  were  published  there  was  a  cry  with  lamentation  and  great 

4  grief  among  the  Jews,  and  they  put  on  sackcloth  and  ashes.  When 
the  queen's  maids  and  chamberlains  came  in  and  told  her,  she  was 
troubled  at  the  news,  and  sent  to  clothe  Mordecai  and  to  take  away 

5  his  sackcloth  from  him  ;  but  he  would  not  be  persuaded.  Tiien 
Esther  called  Achrathaius  her  chamberlain,  who  attended  her.  and 
sent  him   to  learn    from    ^Mordecai  an   exact  state  of   the   matter. 

7  Whereupon  Mordecai  told  him  what  was  done,  and  the  promise  which 
Ilaman  had  made  to  the  kins  of  ten  thousand  talents  to  the  roval 


176  EXCURSUSES. 

8  treasury,  that  he  might  destroy  the  Jews:  and  he  gave  him  a  copy 
of  the  decree  for  their  destruction  which  was  published  among  the 
Susians  to  show  it  to  Esther,  and  told  him  that  he  charged  her  to  go 
in  and  supplicate  the  king  and  to  entreat  him  for  the  people,  calling 
to  mind  the  days  of  thy  humiliation  when  thou  wast  brought  up  by 
my  bounty.  Seeing  Haman  who  is  second  to  the  king,  hath  spoken 
against  us  to  destroy  ns^  call  thou  upon  the  Lord  and  speak  to  the 

9  king  for  us,  to  deliver  us  from    death.     Accordingly,  Achrathaius 

10  went  in  and  told  her  all  these  words.  Thereupon  Esther  said  to 
him,  Go  to  Mordecai,  and  tell  him,  that  all  the  nations  of  the  king- 

11  dom  know,  that  no  man  or  woman  who  shall  go  to  the  king  into  the 
inner  court  without  being  sent  for  hath  any  security  for  life ;  he 
only  can  be  saved  to  whom  the  king  shall  stretch  forth  the  golden 
sceptre.     Now  I  have  not  been  called  to  go  to  the  king  these  thirty 

12  days.     When  Achrathaius  delivered  this  message  of  Esther  to  Mor- 

13  decai,  Mordecai  said  to  him,  Go  say  to  her,  Esther,  do  not  flatter 
thyself  that  thou  alone  of  all  the  Jews  in  the  kingdom  shall  escape. 

14  Be  assured,  that  if  thou  neglectest  the  present  opportunity,  help  and 
protection  will  come  to  the  Jews  from  some  other  quarter ;  but  thou 
and  'thy  father's  house  shall  be  destroyed.     Who  knoweth  but  for 

15  this  very  occasion  thou  hast  been  made  queen.  (?)      Then  Esther 
1ft  sent  back  the  messenger  to  Mordecai,  saying.  Go  and  assemble  the 

Jews  who  are  at  Susoi  and  fast  for  me.     You  must  neither  eat  nor 
drink  for  three  days,  night  nor  day  ;  and  as  for  me,  I  and  my  maids 
will  fast  likewise,  and  then  I  will  go  to  the  king  contrary  to  law, 
though  perhaps  I  must  die. 
17       So  Mordecai  went  and  did  as  Esther  commanded  him. 

[And  he  besought  the  Lord,  making  mention  of  all  the  works  of  the 
Lord ;  and  he  said.  Lord  God,  King  ruling  over  all,  for  all  things  are 
in  thy  power,  and  there  is  n'^  one  that  shall  oppose  thee  in  thy  purpose 
to  save  Israel.  For  thou  hast  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and 
every  wonderful  thing  in  the  world  under  heaven.  And  thou  art  Lord 
of  all,  and  there  is  no  one  who  shall  resist  thee  the  Lord.  Thou 
knowest  all  things :  thou  knowest,  Lord,  that  it  is  not  in  insolence, 
nor  haughtiness,  nor  love  of  glory  that  I  have  done  this,  to  refuse 
obeisance  to  the  haughty  Aman.  For  I  would  gladly  have  kissed  the 
soles  of  his  feet  for  the  safety  of  Israel.  But  I  have  done  this,  that  I 
might  not  set  the  glory  of  man  above  the  glory  of  God :  and  I  will 
not  worship  any  one  except  thee,  my  Lord,  and  I  will  not  do  these 
things  in  haughtiness.     And   now,  O  Lord    God,  the   King,  the  God 


EXCURSUSES.  177 

of  Al)ja:ira,  spare  tlij  people,  for  our  enemies  are  looking  upon  us 
to  our  destruction,  and  they  have  desired  to  destroy  thine  ancient 
inheritance.  Do  not  overlook  thy  peculiar  people,  whom  thou  hast 
redeemed  for  thyself  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Hearken  to  my 
]irayer,  and  be  propitious  to  thine  inheritance,  and  turn  our  mourn- 
ing into  gladness,  that  we  may  live  and  sing  praise  to  thy  name,  O 
Lord  ;  and  do  not  utterly  destroy  the  mouth  of  them  that  praise  thee, 
O  Lord. 

And  all  Israel  cried  with  all  their  might,  for  their  death  was  before 
their  eyes.  And  queen  Esther  betook  herself  for  refuge  to  the  Lord, 
being  taken  as  it  were  in  the  agony  of  death.  And  having  taken  otF 
her  glorious  apparel,  she  put  on  garments  of  distress  and  mourning; 
and  instead  of  grand  perfumes  she  filled  her  head  with  ashes  and  dung, 
and  she  greatly  brought  down  her  body,  and  she  filled  every  place  of 
her  glad  adorning  with  the  torn  curls  of  her  hair. 

And  she  besought  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  and  said,  O  my  Lord, 
thou  alone  art  our  king  ;  help  me  loho  am  destitute,  and  have  no  helper 
but  thee,  for  my  danger  is  near  at  hand.  I  have  heard  from  my  birth, 
in  the  tribe  of  my  kindred,  that  thou,  Lord,  tookest  Israel  out  of  all 
the  nations,  and  our  fathers  out  of  all  their  kindred  for  a  perpetual 
inheritance,  and  hast  wrought  for  them  all  that  thou  hast  said.  And 
now  we  have  sinned  before  thee,  and  thou  hast  delivered  us  into  the 
hands  of  our  enemies,  because  we  honored  their  gods ;  thou  art 
righteous,  O  Lord.  But  now  they  have  not  been  contented  with  the 
bitterness  of  our  slavery,  but  have  laid  their  hands  on  the  hands  of 
their  idols,  in  order  to  abolish  the  decree  of  thy  mouth,  and  utterly  to 
destroy  thine  inheritance,  and  to  stop  the  mouth  of  them  that  praise 
thee,  and  to  extinguish  the  glory  of  thine  house  and  thine  altar,  and  to 
open  the  mouth  of  the  Genries  to  speak  the  praises  of  vanities,  and  in 
order  that  a  mortal  king  should  be  admired  for  ever. 

O  Lord,  do  not  resign  thy  sceptre  to  them  that  are  not,  and  let  them 
not  laugh  at  our  fall,  but  turn  their  counsel  against  themselves,  and 
make  an  example  of  him  who  has  begun  to  injure  us.  Remember  us, 
O  Lord,  manifest  thyself  in  the  time  of  our  affliction,  and  encourage 
me,  O  King  of  gods,  and  Ruler  of  all  dominion.  Put  harmonious  speech 
into  my  mouth  before  the  lion,  and  turn  his  heart  to  hate  him  that 
fights  against  us,  to  the  utter  destruction  of  him  and  of  them'  that  con- 
sent with  him.  Rut  deliver  us  by  thine  hand,  and  help  me  who  am 
destitute,  and  have  none  but  thee,  O  Lord.  Thou  knowest  all  things, 
and  knowest  that  I  hate  the  glory  of  transgressors,  and  that  I  al»hor 
tlie  couch  of  the  uncircumcised,  and  of  every  stranger.     Thou  knowest 


178  EXCURSUSES. 

my  necessity,  for  I  abhor  the  symbol  of  my  proud  station,  which  is 
upon  my  head  in  the  days  of  my  splendor  ;  I  abhor  it  as  a  menstrous 
cloth,  and  I  wear  it  not  in  the  days  of  my  tranquility.  And  thy 
handmaid  has  not  eaten  at  the  table  of  Aman,  and  I  have  not 
honored  the  banquet  of  the  king,  neither  have  I  drunk  wine  of  liba- 
tions. Neither  has  thy  handmaid  rejoiced  since  the  day  of  my  pro- 
motion until  now,  except  in  thee,  O  Lord  God  of  Abraam.  O  God, 
who  hast  power  over  all,  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  desperate,  and 
deliver  us  from  the  hand  of  them  that  devise  mischief ;  and  deliver  me 
from  my  fear. 

And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  when  she  had  ceased  pray- 
ing, that  she  put  off  her  mean  dress,  and  put  on  her  glorious  appai-el. ' 
And  being  splendidly  arrayed,  and  having  called  upon  God  the 
Overseer  and  Preserver  of  all  things,  she  took  her  two  maids,  and  she 
leaned  upon  one,  as  a  delicate  female,  and  the  other  followed  bearing 
her  train.  And  she  was  blooming  in  the  perfection  of  her  beauty; 
and  her  face  was  cheerful,  as  it  xoere  benevolent,  but  her  heart  was 
straitened  for  fear.  And  having  passed  through  all  the  doors,  she 
stood  before  the  king :  and  he  was  sitting  upon  his  royal  throne,  and 
he  had  put  on  all  his  glorious  apparel,  covered  all  over  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  and  was  very  terrible.  And  having  raised  his  face 
resplendent  with  glory,  he  looked  with  intense  anger :  and  the  queen 
fell,  and  changed  her  color  as  she  fainted ;  and  she  bowed  herself 
upon  the  head  of  the  maid  that  went  before  her.  But  God  changed 
the  spirit  of  the  king  to  gentleness,  and  in  intense  feeling  he 
sprang  from  off  his  throne,  and  took  her  into  his  arms,  until  she 
recovered :  and  he  comforted  her  with  peaceable  words,  and  said  to 
her.  What  is  the  matter,  Esther  ?  \  am  thy  brother  ;  be  of  good  cheer, 
thou  shalt  not  die,  for  our  command  is  openly  declared  to  thee,  Draw 
nigh. 

And  liaving  raised  the  golden  sceptre  he  laid  it  upon  her  neck,  and 
embraced  her,  and  said.  Speak  to  me.  And  she  said  to  him,  I  saw 
thee,  my  lord,  as  an  angel  of  God,  and  my  heart  was  troubled  for  fear 
of  thy  glory  ;  for  thou,  my  lord,  art  to  be  wondered  at,  and  thy  face  is 
full  of  grace.  And  while  she  was  speaking,  she  fainted  and  fell.  Then 
the  king  was  troubled,  and  all  his  servants  comforted  her.] 

V.  And  on  the  third  day  Esther  put  on  her  royal  apparel  and 
stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the  king's  palace  over  against  the  king's 
house,  when  the  king  was  sitting  on  his  royal  throne,  in  the  royal 


EXCURSUSES.  179 

i  lio'ise,  over  against  the  gate.  And  wlioii  tlie  king  saw  Esther  stand- 
ing in  the  court,  she  obtained  favor  in  his  sight,  and  the  king  held 
out  to  Esther  the  goMen  sceptre  which  was  in  his  hand,  and  Esther 

3  drew  near  and  touched  the  top  of  the  sceptre.  And  the  king  said, 
What  would  queen  Esther  ?     And  what  is  thy  petition  ?     To  the 

i  halt"  of  my  kingdom  it  shall  be  granted  thee.  Thereupon  Esther 
said,  To-flay  is  my  set  day  ;  if,  therefore,  it  seemeth  good  to  the 
king,  let  him  come  with  Ilaman  to  the  banquet  which  I  will  this  day 

5  prepare.     And  the  king  said,  Call  Ilaraan  quickly  that  we  may  do 

6  as  Esther  hath  said.  So  they  both  went  to  the  banquet  which 
Esther  had  ordered.     And  at  the  banquet  the  king  said  to  Esther, 

7  What  would  queen  Esther  ?     Whatever  thou  askest  shall  be  granted. 
S  To  wl.ich  she  replied.  If  I  have  found  favor  iu  the  sight  of  the  king, 

let  the   king   come  again  with  Ilaman  to-morrow  to  the  banquet 

which  I  will  prepare  J"or  them,  and  to-morrow  I    will    make   my 

9  request  and  my  petition.     Then  Haman  went  out    from   the   king 

overjoyed  and  gladdened  ;  but  upon  seeing  Mordecai  the  Jew  in  the 

10  court,  he  was  inflamed  with  great  indignation.     So  going  home,  he 

11  called  his  friends  and  his  wife  Zosara.  and  having  displayed  to  them  his 
riches  and  the  honor  which  the  king  had  conferred  on  him ;  how  he  had 
promoted  him  to  the  highest  rank  and  made  him  ruler  of  the  kingdom, 

\-l  the  queen,  said  he,  invited  none  to  the  banquet  with  the  king,  but  only 
13  me  :  and  to-morrow  I  am  invited ;  but  these  things  give  me  no  pleasure, 
11  when  I  see  Mordecai  the  Jew  in  the  court.  Thereupon  Zosara  his  wife 
and  his  friends  said  to  him.  Let  a  gallows  fifty  cubits  high  be  made  for 
thee,  and  early  in  the  morning  speak  to  the  king  and  let  Mordecai  be 
hanged  thereon,  then  go  to  the  banquet  with  the  king  and  take  thy  fill 
of  joy.    And  the  thing  pleased  Ilaman.    So  the  gallows  was  got  ready. 

VI.    Now  on  that  night  the  Lord  removed  sleep  frqm  the  king, 
therefore  he  ordered  his  attendants  to  bring  the  book  of  daily  records, 

2  and  read  to  him  ;  and  finding  what  was  written  concerning  Mordecai, 
how  he  had  informed  tlie  king  of  the  king's  two  chamberlains,  when 
they  commanded  the  guard,  and  sought  to  lay  hands  on  Artaxcrxes, 

3  the  king  said,  Wliat  honor  or  favor  did  we  confer  on  Mordecai  ?    To 

4  which  the  king's  servants  replied.  Thou  hast  conferred  none.  And 
while  the  king  was  making  inquiry  concerning  Mordccai's  fidelity 
behold  Ilaman  was  in  the  court.  And  the  king  said,  Who  is  in  the 
court  ?  Now  Ilaman  had  come  to  speak  to  the  king,  that  he  might 
order  Mordecai  to  be  hanged  on  the  gallows  which  he  had  prepared. 

5  So  the  king's  servants  said,  Behold  Ilaman  is  standing  in  the  court, 


180  EXCURSUSES. 

G  and  the  king  said,  Call  him  in.  And  the  king  said  to  Haman,  What 
shall  I  do  to  the  man  whom  T  wish  to  honor  ?     Upon  this  Haman 

7  said  to  himself,  Whom  doth  the  king  wish  to  honor  but  me  ?  So  he 
said  to  the  king.  With  regard  to  the  man  whom  the  king  wisheth  to 

8  honor,  let  the  king's  servants  bring  out  the  royal  robes  with  which 

9  the  king  is  arrayed,  and  the  horse  on  which  the  king  rideth,  and  give 
them  to  one  cf  the  most  honorable  of  the  king's  friends,  and  let  him 
array  the  man  whom  the  king  loveth  and  mount  him  on  the  horse, 
and  make  proclamation  through  the  street  of  the  city  saying,  Thus 

10  shall  it  be  done  to  every  man  whom  the  king  honoreth.  Then  the 
king  said  to  Haman,  Thou  hast  spoken  well.  Do  thou  so  to  Mordeoai 
the  Jew,  who  is  an  attendant  in  the  court.     Let  nothing  be  omitted 

11  of  what  thou  hast  spoken.  So  Haman  took  the  robe  and  the  horse, 
and  having  arrayed  Mordecai  he  mounted  him  on  the  horse,  and 
went  through  the  street  of  the  city  and  made  proclamation,  say- 
ing, Thus  shall   it  be  done  to  every  man  whom  the  king  wisheth 

12  to   honor.      Then    Mordecai    returned    to    the   court,    and    Human 

13  went  home  in  grief  with  his  head  covered.  And  when  Haman 
told  his  wife  and  his  friends  all  that  had  happened  to  him ;  his 
friends  and  his  wife  said,  If  Mordecai  be  of  the  race  of  the  Jews 
thy  humiliation  before  him  is  begun.  Thou  shalt  continue  fall- 
ing, and  shalt  not  be  able  to  have  tliy  revenge  of  him ;  for  witli 

14  him  is  the  living  God.  And  while  they  were  speaking  the  cham- 
berlains came  to  hasten  Ilaman  to  the  banquet  which  Esther  had 
prepared. 

Vn.    And  when  the  king  came  with  Haman  to  the  banquet  with  the 

2  queen,  the  king  said  to  Esther  the  second  day  at  the  banquet.  What 
is  it  queen  Esther  ?     What  is  thy  request,  and  what  thy  petition  ?  to 

3  the  half  of  my  kingdom  it  shall  be  granted  thee.  Thereupon  she 
in  reply  said.  If  I  have  found  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  king,  let  my 
life  be  granted  at  my  request,  and  my  people  at  my  petition  ;  for  I 

4  and  my  people  are  sold  to  be  destroyed.  Had  it  been  to  be  plun- 
dered and  reduced  to  slavery  —  that  we  and  onr  children  should  be 
bondmen  and  bondwomen,  I  would  have  dissembled  hearing  it,  for 

5  the  accuser  is  not  worthy  of  the  king's  court.  And  the  king  said. 
Who  is  he  who  hath  dared  to  do  such  a  thing  ?     To  which  Esther 

6  replied,  The  adversary  is  Ilaman,  this  bad  man.  At  this  Ilaman 
was  struck  with  consternation  for  fear  of  the  king  and  the  queen. 

T  Then  the  king  rising  from  the  banquet  went  into  the  garden,  and 
Human   supplicated  the  queen,  for  he  saw  himself  in  a  desperate 


EXCURSUSES.  181 

8  situation.  And  on  tlie  king's  returning  out  of  the  garden  as  Ilaman 
had  prostrated  himself  on  the  sopha  to  supplicate  the  queen,  the  king 
said,  What !  would  he  offer  violence  to  my  wife  in  my  house?    Upon 

9  liearing  this  llaraan  was  confounded.  Then  Bugathan  one  of  the 
chamberlains  sjiid  to  the  king,  Behold  Ilaman  hath  prepared  a  gal- 
lows for  Mordecai  Who  spoke  for  the  king.  There  is  at  Ilaraan's 
house  a  gallows  actually  erected  fifty  cubits  high.     Thereupon  the 

10  king  said.  Let  him  be  hanged  thereon.  So  Ilaman  was  hanged  on 
the  gallows  which  he  had  prepared  for  Mordecai,  and  the  king's 
anger  was  appeased. 

YIII.    And  on  that  same  day  the  king  made  a  present  to  Esther 
of  all  that  belonged  to  Ilaman  the  accuser.     And  the  king  sent  for 

2  Moi-decai  (for  Esther  told  him  that  he  was  her  kinsman)  ;  and  the 
king  took  the  ring  which  he  had  taken  back  from  Ilaman  and  gave 
it  to  Mordecai,  and  Esther  set  him  over  all  that  belonged  to  Ilaman. 

3  Then  she  spoke  to  the  king  again  and  fell  at  his  feet  and  besought 
him  to  avert  the  mischief  of  Ilaman,  and  what  he  had  devised  against 

4  the  Jews.     And  when  the  king  stretched  forth  the  golden  sceptre  to 

5  Esther,  she  arose  and  stood  near  the  king  and  said.  If  it  seemetli 
good  to  thee,  and  I  have  found  favor,  let  despatches  be  sent  to 
reverse  the  letters  sent  by  Ilaman,  which  were  written  to  destroy  th'C 

6  Jews  who  are  in  thy  kingdom.  For  how  can  I  see  the  calamity  of 
my  people  ?  or  how  can  I  survive  the  destruction  of  my  kindred  ? 

7  Thereupon  the  king  said  to  Esther,  If  I  have  given  thee  all  the  sub- 
stance of  Ilaman,  and  to  gratify  thee  have  caused  him  to  be  hanged 
on  a  gallows,  because  he  laid  his  hands  on  the  Jews,  what  more  dost 

8  thou  desire  ?  Write  ye  yourselves  what  you  please  in  my  name,  and 
seal  it  with  my  ring.  'For  what  is  written  by  the  king's  order,  and 
sealed  with  my  ring  cannot  be  reversed. 

9  So  the  secretaries  were  convened  in  the  first  month  which  is 
Nisan,  on  the  three  and  twentieth  day  thereof  in  the  same  year,  and 
a  letter  was  written  to  the  Jews  reciting  all  that  had  been  given 
in  charge  to  the  lieutenants  and  to  the  chief  governors  of  the  pro- 
vinces from  India  to  Ethiopia,  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces, 

10  to  every  province  as  they  could  read  it,  then  it  was  written  by  the 
king's  command  and  sealed  with  his  ring  (and  these  letters  were  sent 

11  by  posts),  that  he  ordered  them  to  use  their  own  laws  in  every  city, 

12  and  to  assist  each  other,  and  to  use  their  adversaries  and  them  who 
assaulted  them  as  they  pleased,  on  a  certain  day,  the  thirteenth  of  the 
twelfth  month  Adar,  throughout  the  whole  kingdom  of  Artaxerxes, — 


182  EXCTJRSUSES, 

[(v,  13;  etc.).  And  the  following  is  the  copy  of  the  Tetter  of  the 
ordbrs. 

The  great  king  Artaxerxes  sends  greeting  to  the  rulers  of  provinces 
in  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  satrapies^  from  India  to  Ethiopia,  even 
to  those  who  are  faithful  to  our  interests.  Many  who  have  been  fre- 
quently honoured  by  the  most  abundant  kindness  of  their  benefactors 
have  conceived  ambitious^  designs,  and  not  only  endeavor  to  hurt  our 
subjects,  but  moreover,  not  being  able  to  bear  prosperity,  they  also 
endeavor  to  plot  against  their  own  benefactors.  And  they  not  only 
would  utterly  abolish  gratitude  from  among  men^  but  also,  elated  by 
the  boastings  of  men  who  are  strangers  to  all  that  is  good,  they  suppose 
that  they  shall  escape  the  sin-hating  vengeance  of  the  ever-seeing  God. 
And  oftentimes  evil  exhortation  has  made  partakers  of  the  guilt  of 
shedding  innocent  blood,  and  has  involved  in  irremediable  calamities, 
many  of  those  who  were  appointed  to  offices  of  authority,  who  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  management  of  their  friends'  affairs  ;  while  men  by 
the  false  sophistry  of  an  evil  disposition,  have  deceived  the  simple 
candor  of  the  ruling  powers.  And  it  is  possible  to  see  this,  not  so  much 
from  more  ancient  traditionary  accounts,  as  it  is  immediately  in  your 
power  to  see  it  by  examining  what  things  have  been  wickedly  per- 
petrated by  the  baseness  of  men  unworthily  holding  power.  And  it  is 
rigid  to  take  heed  with  regard ito  the  future,  that  we  may  maintain  the 
government  in  undisturbed  peace  for  all  men,  adopting  needful  changes, 
and  ever  judging  those  cases  which  come  under  our  notice,  with  truly 
equitable  decision. 

For  whereas  Aman,  a  Macedonian,  the  son  of  Amadathes,  in  reality 
an  alien  from  the  blood  of  the  Persians,  and  differing  widely  from  our 
mild  course  of  government,  having  been  hospitably  entertained  by  us, 
obtained  so  large  a  share  of  our  universal  kindness  as  to  be  called  our 
father,  and  to  continue  the  person  next  to  the  royal  throne,  reverenced 
of  all ;  he,  however,  overcome  by  the  pride  of  Ms  station,  endeavored  to 
deprive  us  of  our  dominion,  and  our  life  ;  having  by  various,  and  subtle 
artifices  demanded  for  destruction  both  Mardochaeus  our  deliverer  and 
perpetual  benefactor,  and  Esther  the  blameless  consort  of  our  kingdom, 
with  their  whole  nation.  For  by  these  methods  he  thought,  having 
surprised  us  in  a  defenceless  state,  to  transfer  the  dominion  of  the  Per- 
sians to  the  Macedonians.  But  we  find  that  the  Jews  who  have  been 
consigned  to  destiniction  by  the  most  abominable  of  men,  are  not  male- 
factors, but  living  according  to  the  justest  laws,  and  being  the  sous  of 
the  living  God,  the  most  high  and  mighty,  who  maintains  the  kingdom, 
to  us  as  well  as  to  our  forefathers,  in  the  most  excellent  order. 


EXCURSUSES.  183 

Ye  will  therefore  do  well  in  refusing  to  obey  the  letters  sent  by 
Aman  the  son  of  Amadathes,  because  he  that  has  done  these  things 
has  been  hanged  with  his  whole  family  at  the  gates  of  Susa,  Almighty 
God  having  swiftly  returned  to  him  a  worthy  recompense.  We  enjoin, 
you  then,  having  openly  published  a  copy  of  this  letter  in  •every  place, 
to  give  the  Jews  permission  to  use  their  own  lawful  customs,  and  to 
strengthen  them,  that  on  the  thirteenth  of  the  twelfth  month  Adar,  on 
the  self-same  day,  they  may  defend  themselves  against  those  who 
attacked  them  in  the  time  of  affliction.  For  in  tlie  place  of  the 
destruction  of  the  chosen  race,  Almighty  God  has  granted  them  this 
time  of  gladness. 

Do  ye  therefore  also,  among  your  notable  feasts,  keep  a  distinct  day 
with  all  festivity,  that  both  now  and  hereafter  it  may  be  a  day  of 
deliverance  to  us  and  those  wlio  are  well  disposed  toward  the  Persians, 
but  to  those  that  plotted  against  us  a  memorial  of  ■destruction.  And 
every  city  and  province  collectively,  which  shall  not  do  accordingly, 
shall  be  consumed  with  vengeance  by  spear  and  fire ;  it  shall  be  made 
not  only  inaccessible  to  men,  but  also  most  hateful  to  wild  beasts  and 
birds  forever.] 

13  that  these  subsequent  writings  were  to  counterbalance  the  former 
letter ;  and  that  these  counterbalancing  writings  sliould  be  exposed 
to  public  view  throughout  the  whole  kingdom,  that  the  Jews  might 

U  be  ready  against  that  day  to  combat  their  adversaries.     So  the  horse- 

15  men  set  out  in  all  haste  to  execute  the  king's  orders.  And  when 
the  decree  was  published  at  Susoi,  Mordecai  went  forth,  arrayed 
in  a  royal  robe,  wearing  a  crown  of  gold  and  a  turban  of  purple 

16  cotton,     And   upon   seeing   him  the  inhabitants  of  Susoi  rejoiced. 

17  And  among  the  Jews,  there  was  light  and  joy  in  every  city  and 
province  where  the  decree  was  published.  Wherever  proclamation 
was  made,  there  was  joy  and  gladness  among  the  Jews,  feasting  and 
mirth ;  so  that  many  of  the  nations  were  circumcised  and  became 
Jews,  for  fear  of  the  Jews. 

IX.  For  in  the  twelfth  month,  on  the  thirteenth  of  the  month 
Adar,  the  letters  of  the  king  having  arrived,  they  who  assanltcfl  the 
Jews  on  that  day  were  destroyed.  For  none  withstood  them,  and 
terror  of  them  continued  ;  for  the  great  lords  and  petty  princes  and 
the  king's  secretaries  honored  the  Jews-,  for  the  dread  of  Mordecai 
4  fell  upon  them ;  for  the  decree  of  the  knig  liad  caused  his  luune  to 
be  knovt-B  throughout  the  w^hole  kingdom. 


184  EXCURSUSES. 

6  Now  in  the  city  Susoi,  the  Jews  slew  five  hundred  men,  including 
Pharsanes  and  Delphon,  and  Phasga  and  Pharadatha,  and  Barea 
and  Sarbaka,  and  Marmasima  and  Ruphaias,  and  Arsaius  and  Zabu- 
thias,  the  ten  sons  of  Haman  of  Amadathu  the  Bugaian,  the  enemy 

11  of  the  Jews;  and  rifled  them.  On  that  very  day,  when  a  return  was 
made  to  the  king  of  the  number  slain  at  Susoi,  the  king  said  to 

12  Esther,  The  Jews  have  slain  in  the  city  Susoi  five  hundred  men,  how 
then,  thinkest  thou,  have  they  behaved  in  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  ! 
What  therefore  dost  thou  request  farther,  and  it  shall  be  granted 

13  thee  ?  Thereupon  Esther  said  to  the  king,  Let  the  Jews  be  allowed 
to  use  to-morrow  in  like  manner,  that  they  may  hang  up  the  ten  sons 

11  of  Haman.  Accordingly  he  granted  them  leave  to  do  so,  and  ordered 
the  bodies  of  the  ten  sons  of  Haman  to  be  thrown  out  to  the  Jews  to 

15  be  hanged  up.  So  the  Jews  at  Susoi  assembled  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  month  Adar,  and  slew  three  hundred  men,  but  took  no 
spoil. 

16  Now  the  rest  of  the  Jews  who  were  in  the  kingdom  assembled 
and  assisted  each  other,  and  had  rest  fr-om  their  enemies,  for  they 
slew  fifteen  thousand  of  them  on  the  thirteenth  of  the  month  Adar, 

17  but  took  no  spoil.  And  having  rested  on  the  fourteenth  of  the 
month,    they   kept    it   as    a  day   of   rest,  with   joy   and   gladness. 

18  But  the  Jews  of  Susoi  having  assembled  on  the  fourteenth  and  then 

19  rested,  kept  the  fifteenth  with  joy  and  gladness.  Therefore  because 
the  Jews,  who  were  scattered  through  all  the  distant  provinces, 
keep  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Adar,  as  a  holy  day,  with  joy, 
sending  portions  to  one  another,  Mordecai  wrote  an  account  of  these 
matters  in  a  book,  and  sent  it  to  all  the  Jews  who  were  in  the  king- 

21  dom  of  Artaxerxes  far  and  near,  to  set  apart  as  holy  days  and  to 
keep  both  the  fourteenth  and  the  fifteenth  of  the  month  Adar,  for  in 

22  those  days  the  Jews  had  rest  from  their  enemies  :  And  with  regard  to 
the  month  Adar,  in  which  they  had  a  change  from  grief  to  joy,  and 
from  sorrow  to  gladness,  to  keep  the  whole  month  as  good  days  of  wed- 

23  dings  and  joy,  sending  portions  to  their  friends  and  to  the  poor.    And 
2i  the  Jews  took  this  upon  them.     As  Mordecai  wrote  to  them  how 

Haman  of  Amadathu,  the  Macedonian,  warred  against  them  —  as 
2")  he  made  calculations  and  cast  lots  to  destroy  them,  and  as  he  went 
to  the  king  with  an  intention  to  hang  Mordecai,  but  all  the  evils  he 
endeavored  to  bring  on  the  Jews,  fell  upon  himself,  and  he  and  his 
26  sons  were  hanged  ;  therefore  these  days  were  called  Phrouri,  because 
of  the  lots,  which  in  their  language  are  called  Phrouri.  On  the 
account  of  the  things  contained  in  that  letter,  and  of  all  that  they 


EXCURSUSES.  '  185 

2]  suffered  in  consequence  thereof,  and  all  that  happened  to  them,  as 
he  instituted,  so  the  Jews  took  upon  themselves  and  their  posterity, 
and  upon  all  that  joined  them,  never  to  use  them  in  any  other  man- 
ner.    Therefore  let  these  days  be  a  lasting  memorial  from  genera- 

28  tion  to  generation,  in  every  city,  country,  and  province  ;  and  let 
these  days  of  Phrouri  be  kept  forever  ;  and  let  the  memorial  of 
them  never  perish  from  among  their  generations. 

29  Then  Esther  the  queen,  the  daughter  of  Amiuadab,  and  Mordecai 
the  Jew,  wrote  all  that  they  did,  and  a  confirmation  of  the  letter 

30  respecting  the  Phrouri,  which  Mordecai  and  Esther  the  queen 
enjoined  on  themselves,  to  their  own  prejudice,  having  at  that  time 
estal)]ished  their  counsel  against  their  health.  Thus  did  Esther 
actually  establish  it,  and  it  was  written  to  be  kept  in  remembrance. 

X.  Then  the  king  laid  a  tribute  upon  the  dominion,  both  of  the 
5  land  and  the  sea.  But  with  regard  to  his  power  and  his  valour  and 
the  riches  and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom,  behold  they  are  written  in 
the  book  of  the  kings  of  the  Persians  and  the  Medes  to  be  kept  in 
3  remembrance.  Now  Mordecai  was  viceroy  of  king  Artaxerxes,  and 
was  great  in  the  kingdom,  and  being  honoured  by  the  Jews  and 
beloved,  he  enforced  the  observance  of  their  religion  on  all  his 
nation. 

[And  Mardochaeus  said,  These  things  have  been  done  of  God.  For 
I  remember  the  dream  which  I  had  concerning  these  matters  ;  for  not 
one  particular  of  them  has  failed.  There  was  the  little  fountain, 
which  became  a  river,  and  there  was  light,  and  the  sun,  and  much 
water.  The  river  is  Esther,  whom  the  king  married,  and  made  queen. 
And  the  two  serpents  are  I  and  Aman.  And  the  nations  are  those 
nations  that  combined  to  dastroy  the  name  of  the  Jews.  But  as  for 
my  nation,  this  is  Israel,  even  they  that  cried  to  God,  and  were 
delivered  ;  for  the  Lord  delivered  his  people,  and  the  Loi'd  rescued  us 
out  of  all  these  calamities  ;  and  God  wrought  such  signs  and  great 
wonders  as  have  not  been  done  among  the  nations.  Therefore  did  he 
ordain  two  lots,  one  for  the  people  of  God,  and  one  for  all  the  other 
nations.  And  these  two  lots  came  for  an  appointed  season,  and  for  a 
day  of  judgment,  before  God,  and  for  all  the  nations.  And  God 
remembered  his  people,  and  vindicated  his  inheritance.  And  they 
shall  observe  these  days,  in  the  month  Adar,  on  the  fourteenth  and  on 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  with  an  assembly,  and  joy  and  gladness 
before  God,  throughout  the  generations  for  ever  among  his  people 
Israel. 

34 


186  EXCURSUSES. 

In  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra,  Dositheus, 
who  said  that  he  was  a  priest  and  a  Levite,  and  Ptolemy  his  son 
brought  iu  the  published  letter  of  Phrurae,  which  they  said  existed, 
and  which  Lysimachus  the  son  of  Ptolemy,  who  was  in  Jerusalem, 
had  interpreted]. 


HEBREW    INDEX 


PAGE. 

PAGE 

"^as? 

120    nn 

113,114,116 

"'?'? 

120,  121    •r'::-^ 

92 

x-:«x 

94,  120 

.ninr, 

114 

f^":?!>f 

94,  120 

n—ri 

113,  114,  116 

2;^'ix 

71 

nn 

34 

'|Q"l?lr'*r?5< 

94 

nn'irn 

29 

u^zB-yrrnx 

52,75 

51'nh 

29 

'^■"T""^™: 

92 

c-r^n 

47 

piT.-^'nx 

94 

•'rirn 

109 

c-^r-r.cnx 

94,  156 

J^^?'?" 

7 

"=r? 

74 

•n^sr! 

45,  109 

tti-X 

66 

rseti 

89 

is? 

137 

niTD-ian 

88 

°^^^^^ 

133 

Vj^an 

109 

Q-isbx 

104 

"^n"?' 

29 

*^i< 

40 

cr;5yTT 

88 

«"^^ 

88 

l"?:^ 

88 

"^?15< 

32 

■iy-n 

91 

Kn::dnn-)x 

92 

•iin 

32 

Kn'^'cnm.x 

92 

nin 

32 

8t2 

86 

^in 

32 

n'*^ 

137 

onin 

145 

bns 

78 

i^n 

30 

V13 

32 

P--nf    , 

129 

ana 

112,  116 

"isn 

31 

"^-? 

76 

2cn 

73 

"T? 

.      9*7,  98 

raa     ■ 

72 

p^a 

31,  104 

nisa-j 

145 

■,r-3 

31 

5^??? 

72 

r'b^ra 

38 

arj 

41,  51 

b--5  ' 

86,  94 

=a: 

41 

l?? 

94 

3^1?: 

123,  129 

n|5 

31 

"R"^- 

37 

■'a 

120 

• 

123,  128.  120 

^3^ 

70 

nas 

51 

^3? 

41 

b= 

137 

"■T^? 

47,88 

rs 

48 

^"■1 

41 

CB-ia 

32,  93 

rtri 

78 

ana 

120 

188 


HEBREW  INDEX 


ir3 
n^ 

mbnb 

D?3 

Q-q 

na? 

DC': 

ni5 

nnc 
n":nb 

ED 

-SO 

D-iDi-ID 

■^^^ 
n-£3S 


119, 


PAGE. 

PAQS. 

120 

•=  ^? 

86 

34,  93,  94 

012 

34 

112 

r? 

47,  122,  123, 

127,  128 

91 

nrc 

75,  76 

128 

nins 

53,75 

7 

-1!1Q 

93 

29 

D^IQ 

31 

158 

c:c 

93 

109 

cr-s 

93 

137 

c-'rnns 

93 

137 

kpq' 

94,  121 

66 

nrQ 

104,  108 

156 

'i?T^ril 

94 

156 

n^'s 

71 

120 

^P 

' 

85 

41 

AT^^P 

88 

156 

irx-1 

60 

),  156,  157 

-(•^rac-an 

109 

156 

^=: 

156 

156 

r: 

77,  121 

130 

D^sn 

77,  155 

.     34 

nasi 

' 

110 

38 

^5^^ 

73,  152 

19 

•5^ 

94 

42 

-(diTT 

111 

139 

■,cra 

29 

38 

nn-cj 

48 

84 

^ro 

114 

121 

DibO 

91 

156 

i:»bt!3 

158 

114,  116 

iruj 

40 

114,  116 

r^':3 

81 

114,  116 

•(inriij 

10 

46 

tjin-ia 

152 

),  120,  121 

nyd" 

45,  109 

75 

cd 

32,  111, 

112,  116 

34 

C'l'nt; 

76 

38 

--nb 

76 

48,  49 

xbn 

123, 

128,  129 

49 

rtn 

47,  123, 

128,  129 

34 

y::n 

45,  109 

ENGLISH    INDEX 


Ahasucrus,  identity  of,  9,10 

Alabaster,  114,115,110 

Alphabets,  Persian  and  Hebrew,  com- 
pared, 10,11,92,93,94 
Akhasvcrosh,  11,16,17,92 
Anonymous  writings,  IGG 
Arnold  quoted,  1 1 9 
Artabanus,  advice,  20 
Artakhsbaslita,  92 
Artaxerxes  Longimanus : 

character,  14 

not  Ahasucrus,  14 

Artaxerxes  Ochus,  12 

inscription  by,  12 

Attire,  maidens',  43 

Auguries  and  Omens,  50 

Awnings,  colors  of,  32 

materials,  32 

not  hangings,  31,  32 

Babylon,  palace  of,  98 

Bahat,  112,  113 

Ballantine  quoted,  1 1 9 

Banquet,  30,  31,  44,  Gl,  G8 

Basalt,  115 

Bayith,  the,  99,  101,  102 

Beecher,  Trof.  W.  J.,  quoted,         37 
Benefactors,  royaly  rewarded,  G5 


Berah,  the, 
Bertheau  (juotcd, 
Bethan,  the, 
Bible,  authors  of, 

variety  of, 
Blue,  a  royal  color, 


30,  97,  98,  108 

31,  89 

99,  101,102 

1C7 

IGG 

113 


109,  158, 


59 
90 
Daily  affairs. 


Bonomi  quoted. 
Book  of  chronicles. 
Book  of  records ;  see 

book  of." 
Boyle,  R.,  quoted,  103 

Brick,  111,  112,  113 

Brutus  and  Cassius,  101 

Buildings,  arrangement  of ;  see  "  Top- 
ography and  Buildings." 
Bull,  the  Pope's,  143 


Calvin  quoted, 

151 

Cambyses,  character, 

157 

not  Ahasuerus, 

11,  12 

Castle,  Shushan  the. 

29,  30 

Windsor, 

98 

Chaparinp, 

119 

Chelil  Minar,              97,  99, 

100,  196 

Concealment,  the  Divine, 

164 

the  Saviour's, 

104,  165 

Couches, 

33 

Counsellors, 

35,  36 

Couriers,  Grecian, . 

155 

Jewish, 

155 

origin, 

155 

Roman, 

155 

swiftness, 

155 

use,                       76,  77, 

117,  155 

Coursers, 

156 

Court,  of  the  garden. 

31 

inner,           57,  59,  103, 

104,  105 

mode  of  access,       105, 

100,  108 

outer,                     68,  65 

,  66,  107 

Cross,  original  character, 

123 

190 


ENGLISH  INDEX. 


Crown, 


34,  35,  44,  GG,  78 


Crucifixion,  among  Romans, 
Cuneiform  alphabet, 
Cuneiform  writing. 
Cursive  writing, 
Curtius  quoted. 


124 

92,  93 

10,  75 

75,  121 

48 


Daily  affairs,  book  of,  47,  64,  89,  90 
Daniel,  Tomb  of,  '       111 

Dar,  113,  114,  IIG 

Darius  Hystaspis,  cliaracter,         157 

history,  12,  13 

Daryvush,  92 

Davidson,  Dr.  S.,  quoted,  15 

Days,  lucky  and  unlucky,  50 

Divine  name  omitted,  IGl 

by  design,  165 

Drinking  vessels,  33 

Ebers  quoted,  68 

Esther,  Book  of: 

addressed  to  race,  168 

anonymous,  166 

author,  21,  24,  162,  163 

author's  qualifications,       23,  24 
chronology  of,  9,'  1 7 

contributions  to  history,  18 

date  of,  9 

design,  163,  165 

divine  attributes  in,  165 

divine  name  absent,         163,165 
estimation  by  Jews,  7,  8 

excerpt  from  records,  162 

geography  of,  21 

instructive,  169 

non- Jewish  character,  1G2 

not  poetry  nor  parable,  8 

omissions  of,  162 

outline  of,  25,  26,  27 

practical  teaching,  9 

Providence  of  God  in,        8,  163 
Septuagint  version  of,  170 

apocryphal  additions  to,  170, 
174,  176,  182,  185 
true  to  life,  8,  9 

Esther,  Queen,  attendants,  56 

banquet,  44 


Esther,  Queen,  beauty  of,  winning,  60 

courage,  59 

edict  of,  89 

endowments,  74 

fast  of,  59 

fear  of,  57 

genealogy,  18,  40,  41 

grief  of,  56 

indignation,  69 

modesty,  43, 44 

name  of,  40 

nationality  hidden,  41,  42 

not  revengeful,  83 

obedience,  46 

perseverance,  73 

piety,  degree  of,  161 

Eunuchs,  character  of,  34 

treachery  of,  46 

Ewald,  quoted,  131,  132,  133 

Execution,  early  modes  of,  47, 63, 122 

Exodus  of  Israelites,  166 

Ezra,  Book  of,  161 

Fame,  81 

Fasting,  act  of  piety,  149 

among  Christians,  151 

intention,  150 

nature,  150 

of  Jews,  150,  151 

prayer  in  itself,         59,  149,  150 

Fasting  and  crying,  87,  88,  89 

Favorites,  royal,  fate  of : 

in  English  history,  154 

in  French  history,  154 

in  Grecian  history,  153 

in  Jewish  history,  153,  154 

in  Persian  history,  153 

in  Roman  history,  154 

Fear,  province  of,  79 

Felton,  Prof.  C.  C,  quoted,  151 

Fergusson  quoted,  109 

Gate  of  the  king,       45,  46,  102,  103, 
107,108,  109 
Gescnius  quoted,  156 

Gibbon  quoted,  155 

God,  attributes  visible,  165,  166 


ENGLISH  INDEX. 


191 


God,  concealments, 

1G4 

Homage,  Oriental, 

48 

hidden  in  nature, 

163 

Horses,  swift, 

156 

perceptible  in  objects, 

1G5 

House  of  women ;  see  "  Women,  house 

presence  unseen, 

1G8 

of." 

present  in  blessings, 

169 

present  in  trials. 

169 

Impalement,      26,  27,  47,  63,  70,  71, 

response  to  man, 

161 

83,  86,  125,  127, 

129,  130 

Godliness  profitable, 

91 

Impressment,                   118, 

119,  121 

"  Good,"  range  of  term. 

41,  51 

Inscriptions, 

il,  97 

Grief,  Oriental  expression 

of,          55 

Israelites,  exodus  of. 

166 

Greece,  deliverance  of, 

20 

Gury,  J.  P.  quoted, 

143 

Jamieson,  Dr.,  quoted, 

152 

Jesus,  concealments  of. 

164,  165 

Haggadah, 

139 

silence  of. 

164 

Halacliah, 

139 

Jews,  change  of  fortune, 

80,81 

Hall,  Prof.  I.  H.,  quoted, 

61 

contentment  of, 

130,  131 

Haman,  ambition  of, 

67 

deportations  of, 

40 
51,130 

character. 

47 

dispersion  of. 

descent, 

47,48 

enterprise  of, 

132 

disappointment, 

63.67 

fasts  of. 

150,  151 

downfall. 

71 

fidelity  of, 

132 

exaltation, 

47 

forbearance  of, 

54,  82 

family  of. 

63 

in  exile, 

130 

grief  of, 

67 

influence  of. 

133 

house,  ruin  of, 

71,  72 

invincible, 

80 

machination, 

73 

loyalty  of. 

51 

malice  of. 

62,  71 

mission  of. 

132,  133 

offer  of  money, 

51,  56 

moral  progress  of. 

135 

self-restraint. 

62 

number  of. 

17,  160 

sons  of. 

63,  81,  83 

obedience  to  Mordecai 

85 

superstition, 

50 

■  patriotism  of. 

130, 131 

terror  of, 

70 

property  confiscated, 

52 

vengeance, 

49 

separation  of. 

132 

versatility, 

66 

Solidarity  of. 

86,  88 

Hanging,  as  impalement, 

47,  122, 

testimony  of,  for  God, 

133, 135 

128,  129,  130 

waning  piety  of. 

162 

instances  of, 

128,  129 

weaned  from  idolatry. 

133, 134 

Hangings  or  curtains,  31,  108 

Harbonah,  suggestion  of,  70 
Harem,  the  Oriental,     102,  105,  106 

the  royal,  9,  45 

Hatach,  character  of,  57 

Hebrew,  derivation  of  term,  49 

Hebrew,  modern  use,  139 
Herodotus,  quotations  from 
48,  125,  155, 
Historiographers,  royal, 


15,19, 

57,  158 

64 


Keil  quoted,  89,  160 

Khshyarsha,  10,  11,  12,  16,  92 

Khorsabad,  inscriptions  at,  158 

King,  gate  of;  see  "  Gate  of  the  king." 
King's  Gate  and  the  Courts,  102 

Language,  change  of,  138 

Languages,  diversity  of.  37,  38 

Lconidas,  impalement  of,  125 


192 


ENGLISH  INDEX. 


Letters,  early,  sent,  120 

translation  of,  121,122 

Letters  and  Posts,  117 

Limestone,  blue,  113 

■white,  111 

Literature,  division  of,  167 

Loftus  quoted,  96,  141,  145 

Lord's  Prayer,  Divine  name  absent 

from,  '       1G7 

Lot,  casting  of,  50,  85,  86 

Maccabees,  Book  of,  167 

Magi,  35 

Maimonides  quoted,  7 

Malachite,  112,  113,  116 

Mandate,  34 

Marble,  black,  114,  116 

blue,  32 

red,  116 

white,         32,  111,  112,  115,  116 

Massacre,  of  Mamelukes,  147 

by  Mithridates,  146 

at  ]\Iount  Lebanon,  148 

of  Nestorians,  148 

at  Scio,  147 

of  Saint  Bartholomew's,         "147 

by  Tamerlane,  146,  147 

Materials,  decay  of,  100,  115 

nature  of,  116 

Media  and  Persia,  90 

Memucan,  advice  of,  36 

Merrill,  Dr.  S.  quoted,      37,  38,  122 

Messages,  transmission  of,  118 

Messengers,  royal,  77 

Meturgeman,  office  of,  1 39 

Midrash,  139 

Mines,  "  160 

"Money,  offer  of,  by  Haman,  51 

Persian,  51 

Mordecai,  adornment  of,  78 

care  of  Esther,  40,  42,  72 

character  of,  46 

disregard  for  Haman,  49 

distress,  55 

elevation  of,  72 

excuse  of,  49 

genealogy  of,  39 


Mordecai,  liopefialness  of. 

58,  167 

identity  of. 

39 

influence  of, 

59,85 

informer,  as. 

46,  47,  64 

messages  of, 

88 

patriotism  of. 

90,  91 

piety  of. 

161 

popularity  of, 

90 

position  ot. 

45 

preacher,  as. 

91 

self-control  of, 

46 

time  of, 

39,40 

Mourning,  Oriental, 

55 

Mules, 

156 

Name,  the  Divine,  unspoken,         162 

the  Divine,  wanting,       161,  165 

reasons  for  absence,       161,  162, 

163,  165, 166 

The  Unwritten,  161 

Narrative,  dramatic  style  of,  65 

Nehemiah,  piety  of,  162 

Nero,  heartlessness  of,  54,  55 

News,  collected,  82,118 


Ointments,  precious. 

42,43 

Onias,  temjile  of, 

136 

Palace,  garden  of. 

70 

Papyrus, 

121 

Parchment, 

121 

Pashas, 

53,  75,  76 

Pavement, 

33 

colors  of, 

111 

tesselated. 

110 

Pavement  and  Components,  110,116 

Peg,  see  "  Pin  or  peg." 

Persepolis,  palaces  of,  100,101 

remains  of,  46 

Persia  and  Media,  37 

Persian  alphabet,  10,  92 

banquets,  19,30,31 

customs,  110 

empire,  extent  of,  21,  23,  29,  118 
empire,  population  of,       84, 160 

Persian  kings  despotic,  77,  78 

kings,  divinity  of,  74 


EXGUsii  ixnr.x. 


193 


Persian  kings,  ignoranco  of,  72 

postal  system,  53,  117,  118 

postal  system  for  royal  use,    118 

post-routes,  1 1 0 

post-routes  in  modern  times,  1 1 0 

records,  in  poetie  form,  1C3 

rivers,  the  king's,  IGO 

Words  and  Names,  93 

writing,  75 

Persians,  cruelty  of,  54 

inebriety  of,  33,  68 

monotheism  of,  134 

Piety,  low  state  of,  161 

Pillars,  material  of,  32 

Pin  or  peg,  125,  126,  128,  129 

Plato  quoted,  155 

Polygamy,  evils  of,  37,  45 

Pope's  bull,  143 

Posts,  76 

Post-houses,  118 

Postal  system ;  see  "  Persian  postal 

system." 

Princes,  76 

Prodig  1  Son,  parable  of,  168 

Prometheus,  fate  of,  126 

Promises,  Oriental,  61 

Property,  crown,  160 

Propylon,  46,  102,  103,  109 

Proseuchae,  137 

Providence  of  God,  50,  80 

Power,  dt  legated,  76 

irresponsible,  78 

military,  ,        30 

Purim,  feast,  7,20,84,85,86,87 

letters  of,  87 

Quarries,  crown  property,  160 

Queen  Esther;  see  "Esther, Queen." 

Kaleigh,  Dr.  A.,  quoted,  57,  60 

Rawlin-^on,  Canon;  quoted,  39,  53,  64, 
65,  74,  75,93,125,  158,160 
Relief,  58 

Request,  Oriental  mode  of,  61 

Rest,  44,  84 

Retribution,  86 

Revenue,  farmed  out,  160 

25 


Revenue,  sources  of,  1C'> 

Uivei-s,  crown  property,  160 

Royal    favorites  ;     see    "  Favorites, 

royal." 
Rimners,  77,  117 

Sackcloth  and  ashes,  55,  56 

Salt-works,  IGO 

Sandstone,  red,  11. 'J 

Satraps,  extortion  of,  100 

grandeur  of,  159 

number  of,  53,  157 

office  of,  53.  75,  159 

power  arbitrary,  159,  160 

support  of,  159,  IGO 

Sceptre,  character  of,  151 

Assyrian,  152,  153 

Egyptian,  151 

golden,  the,    57,  60,  73,  106,  151 

Grecian,  152 

Jewish,  152,  153 

Persian,  152 

Sceptre-bearers,  60 

Schultz  quoted,  23,  89 

Scribes,  Jewish,  75 

royal,  52,  75 

Scripture,  silence  of,  163,  164 

Seals ;  see  "  Signet  rings." 

Self-defence,  77,  80,  81,  83 

Septuagint  Esther,  translation  of,  1 70 

.  translator,  1 70 

apocryphal  additions,     1 70,  1 74, 

176,  182,  185 

Serpentine,  1.12 

Shash,  limestone,          •  111 

Shushan,  climate  of,  96 

.  fertility  of,  96 

great  hall  of,  96,  100,  102 

importance  of,  95 

joy  in,  78 

mounds  of,  96,  97 

perplexity  of,  5.^ 

population  of,  81 

site  of,  95 

Shushan  the  castle,  29,  98,  99 

Signet-rings  and  Seals,  72,76,140,141 

Assvrian,  145 


194 


ENGLISH  INDEX. 


Signet-rings,  Babylonian, 

145 

Tribute,  repugnance  to, 

159 

Chaldean, 

145 

146 

sources  of. 

89 

cost, 

143 

Trywhitt,  quoted. 

12 

Egyptian, 

144 

145 

Hebrew, 

145 

Ulai  or  Eulaeus, 

95 

kinds  of, 
materials, 

141 
141 

Van  Lennep  quoted. 

140,  148 

Persian, 

52 

Vashti,  deposition  of, 
disobedience  of, 

37,  38 
35 

Roman, 

143 

use. 

140 

143 

power  of, 

38 

Signet,  royal ;  see  "  Signet- 
Seals." 
Silence,  of  Bible, 

rings 

and 

position  at  court,                       34 
Victims,  number  of,              81,  83,  84 

164 

Virgins,  gatherings  of,         39,  41,  45 

instructive, 

163 

Water-tax,  Persian, 

160 

of  Jesus, 

164 

Wine,  royal, 

33 

Sochereth, 

114 

Wise  men, 

35 

Stalagmite, 

114 

Woman's  power. 

37 

Stake, 

123 

124 

right. 

35 

Strabo  quoted, 

100 

Women,  house  of,             39, 

105,  106 

Strangling, 

129 

ointments  for. 

42.43 

Sublime  Porte, 

Susa  ;  see  "  Shushan." 

45 

Wordsworth,  Bishop,  quoted,          81 
Writing,  materials  for,                    121 

Synagogue,  early  origin  of, 

136 

137 

the  Great, 

138 

Xerxes,  attendants  of, 

38 

Synagogues,  destruction  of. 

137 

brutality  of. 

54 

in  Jerusalem, 

137 

character  of, 

15,54 

in  Rome, 

137 

empire,  extent  of  ;  see  "  Persian 

Syro-Chaldaic, 

139 

empire,  extent  of." 
excitement  of, 

69,  70 

Talents,  amount  of, 

51 

expedition  against  Greece,      19, 

Targums, 

139 

30,44 

Temple,  loss  of, 

135 

feast,  purpose  of, 

19 

of  Onias, 

136 

fickleness  and  caprice. 

68 

Topography  and  Buildings, 

95 

fright. 

20 

Tree,  for  impalement. 

63 

greatness. 

89,  90 

uses  of  term,            127 

128 

129 

gynecaeum. 

39,43 

Trench,  Archbishop,  quoted, 

163 

haste, 

54,  78 

Tribute,  amount  of, 

157 

158 

identity  with  Ahasuerus 

15,  29 

derivation  of  term, 

89 

156 

inscriptions  naming. 

11,  12 

kinds  of. 

156, 

159 

sleeplessnese, 

64 

levied  by  Darius, 

157 

mode  of  paying. 

158 

159 

Zeresh,  advice  of, 

63 

paid  by  Jews, 

156 

prediction  by, 

68 

Persia  exempt  from, 

160 

Zerubbabel, 

161 

THE  PLATFORM  AT  PERSEPOLIS. 

KEDUCED  FROM  FLANDIN  AND  COSTE. 

Explanation  of  general  features. 

1.  The  stairs  on  the  left  (west)  lead  from  the  plain  to  the  Northern 
Terrace,  first  upon  which  is  the  Propylou  of  Xerxes,  then,  far  to  the 
right,  the  Eastern  Propylon. 

2.  Returning  to  the  left,  a  sculptured  staircase  leads  to  the  higher 
Central  Terrace,  first  upon  which  is  the  famous  Hall  of  Xerxes 
(Chehl  Minar)  ;  beyond  this  the  Hall  of  a  Hundred  Columns  ;  in  the 
hill  are  excavations,  perhaps  for  tombs. 

3.  Next,  to  the  south,  and  in  order  from  the  left,  are  a  cluster  of 
nameless  ruins  upon  the  edge,  the  Palace  of  Darius,  a  mound  of 
rubbish,  the  Central  Edifice  (or  Propylon). 

4.  The  last  range  of  ruins'  begins,  at  the  left,  with  the  Southwest 
Edifice,  followed  by  the  Palace  of  Xerxes  upon  a  higher  level,  fronted 
near  one  corner  by  a  small  Propylon  at  the  head  of  stairs ;  a  mound 
of  rubbish  follows,  beyond  which  is  the  Southeast  Edifice. 

5.  Directly  in  the  rear  of  the  Palace  of  Xerxes  the  level  drops  to 
the  Southern  Terrace,  upon  which  are  no  discoverable  ruins. 

The  details  may  be  better  seen  with  a  magnifying  glass,  and  are 
more    fully  explained    in    Rawlinsou's  Ancient   Monarchies,   (Dodd, 
Mead,  and  Co's  ed.),  Vol.  iii.  pp.  270-312. 
196 


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The  book  of  Esther 


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"  Theological  Sem„ 


'  Library 


1101200040  7355 


